post comfort

i'm back from the comfort - a good party, and one of my british cousins rocked up with his argumentative yet impressively apologetic mate.

i'm glad i stopped for a sandwich on the way back: i hadn't realized how hungry i was. it was a great sandwich. in contrast to olive, where i left after the guy made it quite unclear as to whether or not he really wanted to see to my needs, the espresso bar crew were surprisingly attentive and pleasant for stupid-o'clock in the morning :)

---
i woke up late, posted, then headed out for breakfast. i walked straight past coffeholic (no chef, no dice), past cafesito (full, and not enough sunlight) and into the eager clearing of bar gurion. as expected, a sub-five-minute wonder breakfast (although the passover bread was only alright; i consumed two slices before giving up).

i thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast, and made great strides into the annotated alice with a grin: i was even approached by an almost cute girl and her dog, curious to know what i was up to. i must have sat at least half an hour after i was done, just reading and lazing, until i decided i'd had enough uv and walked home to climb back into bed.

...

just as i was falling asleep, i felt an ache in my hand - exactly where the dream spider had bitten me. was it a cramp, or an actual attack?

...

i was woken up by lipgirl, who i've been trying to meet up with for ages. half an hour later i was sitting with her and a beer, and a bit later on we were joined by a friend of hers. we talked for ages, having a great time, and once we were done i walked with them until king george st before saying goodbye.

i've decided i quite like her friend.

---
on my way back, i walked past some guy lying awkwardly on the ground beside a bench. he didn't look like he was doing alright, so i asked the kids on the next bench how long he'd been that way.

"we're just teenagers, what do you expect us to do?"
i informed them that i'd expect them to consider calling a damn ambulance.

i tried talking to him, but he was completely incoherent. i tried lifting him up, but he managed to make it clear that that wasn't what he most desired. i called an ambulance. the woman on the line couldn't understand where we were from my description, so i handed my phone to another passer by who sorted it out.

she informed me that they'd already been there, and that he'd refused assistance because he didn't have any money. they agreed to send out again, and we learned that the ambulance can take a surprisingly long time to get to a scene the second time :P

the kids had long since disappeared, and while i waited and periodically checked that the guy was still breathing i considered their response:

what teenagers need to understand is that grown-ups have just as little a grasp of the world as they do. one doesn't grow out of all those mixed up sensations, one merely learns to deal with them. when faced with a new situation, any type of situation, a normal person will have very little confidence in dealing with it.

specifically, very few people will be naturally comfortable with a stranger in trouble, and the easiest (and therefore automatic) reaction is to ignore it in the hope that it goes away.

this is almost the only incorrect response.

we are all made of the same stuff, we would all prefer that if something were to happen to us, we wouldn't be ignored. one doesn't need to be a hero, one simply needs to care enough to do something. often, as in today's example, that something is finding somebody else who is qualified to help.

there's nothing a "grown up" can do that a "teenager" can't.

---
i had a pleasant chat with a pitbull owner on my way from the scene, which started when i asked him why he'd clipped the ears so close. there's an amount that should be done to prevent unnecessary harm to the animal, and then there's too much. i think i may have convinced him to leash his staffie, too. cute bitch, but a bit unruly.

i got home, admitted on facebook that my being released was a mere april fool's day hoax (i'd had to answer a couple of calls on that), spoke to one of the doof organizers and arranged for a special ticket if i make it up there on sunday, then left to meet up with SxS. i ran into my previous landlord and his wife on the way, we had an interesting chat, and then i continued on to have coffee with SxS before leaving for yogi's.

i learned an important lesson last night. i learned that my intuition has been correct, and that i should stick to my guns: no buying in after i've been taken out. my second buy-in didn't even last a single round :(

now to shave, then shower, then crash. it's gonna be a serious weekend, i think :)