Mental Illness and Mental Stillness

Hey there! A couple interesting stories from earlier today:

As I was walking through Rittenhouse Square on my way to work this morning, I saw a homeless guy crouching next to one of the park benches. He was aggressively stomping his foot on the ground while yelling loudly, "you faggot!" Then he quickly stood up and looked back toward the spot on the ground where he was stomping and yelled passionately, "Leave me alone you faggot!!!" There was no one else within ten meters of him.

Later in the evening, I took a break from work and walked outside to the Wawa on our block. I went straight back to the refrigerated section because I had my mind set on getting some yogurt. When I got back there a disheveled woman said to me, "How are you?" I responded, "Good, how are you?", to which she replied, "Can you help me get some food?" I told her that I was going to get a yogurt, and that I'd get one for her. While rubbing her stomach, she said that she didn't like yogurt, and immediately asked me for money; I repeated and stuck firmly to my offer of giving her a yogurt. As if she was entitled to my money, she acted offended by my refusal to change my offer. So in response to her body language and attitude, I said to her, "how about a banana?" Without a word, she just walked away, ostensibly disgusted with me.

Finally today, in the interest of full and honest disclosure and to still any unsettled minds, I'd like to be clear about something. When I went to the red light districts of Essen and Amsterdam with Roland and his friends, not one of us talked to any of the girls, which means of course that not one of us had any business, so to speak, with any of the girls. To state this otherwise, in an affirmative form, we all simply walked around and observed the girls in the windows. So, although this clarification may disappoint some of my friends here in the U.S. who were hoping for a wild story, I must be honest -- as always. And especially in this case because I don't want any of my European friends to be painted in a misleading light.

Well, speaking of mental stillness, it's time for me to get a good night's sleep. Buenas noches! Until tomorrow, your friend in Philly.