Bad people.
On my route back and forth, in and out, I saw two police vans pull up to a house. It was 7 o’clock in the morning. Two women stood outside the house, pointing toward an open door. Curious situation, eh? I imagined all sorts of things and it got me thinking about people. Bad people. People who don’t ‘people’ very well. They are sometimes broken and oftentimes can’t be fixed. Maybe they were poorly made, of low quality. Maybe the materials of their lives have all been substandard or flawed in some way, like cheap stuff from China. Then, one morning at 7, they just break. Maybe they were getting ready for work and while they were doing that, reached a point where the plastic gave way, the handle fell off and someone got burned. Maybe that was one 7 o’clock too many and the phony expiration date was revealed, they were spoiled. Someone suddenly realized they didn’t taste good, looked at the label and called the police. Or, maybe they had been minding their own business, sitting in the bin, another person went bad and they went bad too, right along with them. In the course of breaking or spoiling or going bad, the police get called, someone gets hurt and a crowd gathers to watch the spectacle.
Sometimes, a crowd doesn’t gather. The crowd doesn’t gather because only a simple thing happened. A dish broke, there was yelling. It might have been not very bad. People don’t gather to see that since it happens all the time. As an example, I didn’t know what had happened so I just drove by the open door, the women, the police and continued doing what I was doing. Other people, bad or not, were also driving by and carefully avoiding the gaze of the attendant police. I and they continued what we were doing but suddenly at the posted speed limit and in the proper lane, using turn signals. I used my signals. Usually, I don’t. That is a bad thing I do. I go bad from time to time and the turn signal using urge shorts out. I wasn’t properly put together and I get reminded by anyone riding in the front seat when I drive. It is only a moderately bad thing I do. Someday, of course, maybe at 7 o’clock in the morning, the turn signal won’t be used and there will be an accident or someone will get upset. The police will be called and people will point.
It is not considered nice to gawk at a person who broke or went bad or spoiled. We are not supposed to be curious but I was curious. I think the reason it is not considered nice to stare is simple. We are all bad, a little. We know that one 7 o’clock in the morning, there will be an open door and people pointing and a couple of police cars. It will be something we did bad, we will look like a bad person. We don’t want to look bad. I don’t think anyone wants to be bad, either. We all want to be good, stay fresh, hold together. All of us do. Maybe Donald Trump wants to be bad, I don’t know. The curiousity about the open door and the pointing is simple, too. I think we want to know that the other apple went badder than we did. Then, we can rest a little easier? Our curiousity is self-serving?
I am a little curious just what happened beyond that open door. What were those women with the worried looks on their faces pointing at?
Maybe some bad people just like doing that bad stuff. Maybe they were born to be bad, as many a printed t-shirt claims of it’s wearer. Are they ‘bad to the bone’ and proud of it? It seems that Donald Trump likes to be ‘bad to the bone’, doesn’t it? Myself, I don’t necessarily like being bad…it is just an occasional part of going down the road. Sometimes, I just forget to use my signal. Sometimes, I just get lazy. Don’t call the police, eh? (and don’t point, it isn’t nice.)
Robert On The Air 