Life is full of humorous daily oddities. We do not have to critically analyse each and every thing that crosses our path to discover them; we merely ought to be open-minded about what we stumble across, ready to be amused, interested, or even inspired, when presented with the right stimuli. Life proffers up such gems every day, we merely have to keep an eye out.
A few examples that have tickled a smile from me recently:
- a Westie dog out for a walk in the park wearing a leather jacket
- bagpipe practice, again in the [same] park
- a woman trying to get through airport security with four large hold-alls of hand luggage, and not one, not two, but three of the exact same straw hat precariously perched atop her head
- my own dear mother trying to make a snow angel in a nigh-on vertical bank of snow
- seeing the inside of an escalator during its annual cleaning (not so much funny as very mildly fascinating, and so rare a feat that its strangeness and my privilege sparked the smile in this case)
And the best part is, these kinds of weird and wonderful things don't have to be from personal experience - swap such a story with a friend and there's double the fun already. A friend recently told me her flatmate, a tea-making novice, was concerned because the kettle had 'run out of water' and would therefore need replacing...
The internet, too, is a marvellous source for all manner of tiny crazies - this week alone there's been:
- a video about a homeless, toothless man who can make his moustache dance in extraordinary ways
- an intriguing etymological explanation of the term "piss poor"
- a play-off between an American subway busker and a saxophonist on his way home
- a story about an Argentine chap, enraged because the pair of toy poodles he'd purchased turned out to actually be none other than ferrets on steroids. Delightful.
So, dear reader, I beg of you not to become disenamoured by life... It has so many charming quirks to appreciate - lend a cynical eye where you will, just don't write yourself off to being too close-minded to notice...
