If you haven’t been there, you have seen videos of life on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, particularly as it occurs on Fat Tuesday. Tourists and locals crowd the famous street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The crowd is a jumble of people from many places and of many “persuasions.”
What happens when many people of different persuasions congregate? On Bourbon Street, the gathering is quite entertaining. It is also quiet befuddling. What motivates a person to dress up as a motorized Transformer? What is it that motivates someone to lie pressed against a wall on the inside edge of a busy sidewalk? And what is it that makes a person hand out baubles for tips? Obviously, there’s a different story for each human, and each might find the story of the curious tourist to be a curiosity in itself.
We constantly befuddle one another, don’t we? Just when we think we have someone figured out, the person does the unexpected. So, note the surprise when parents and friends comment on the actions of someone who seemed “normal” (if, in fact, there is such a condition as “normal”) who suddenly goes into a restaurant or theater and shoots people. “He seemed like a nice guy. He even helped Mrs. Glutch carry in her groceries. I never saw this coming.”
Of course, for each of us there is a “normal,” a condition to which we are accustomed. Maybe, however, we should examine our individual “normals” to see whether or not they don’t hide a different “us.” Maybe, our “normals” are a bit unexpected when others view them. Maybe, just maybe, we are the Transformer on Bourbon Street when others view us.
What happens when many people of different persuasions congregate? On Bourbon Street, the gathering is quite entertaining. It is also quiet befuddling. What motivates a person to dress up as a motorized Transformer? What is it that motivates someone to lie pressed against a wall on the inside edge of a busy sidewalk? And what is it that makes a person hand out baubles for tips? Obviously, there’s a different story for each human, and each might find the story of the curious tourist to be a curiosity in itself.
We constantly befuddle one another, don’t we? Just when we think we have someone figured out, the person does the unexpected. So, note the surprise when parents and friends comment on the actions of someone who seemed “normal” (if, in fact, there is such a condition as “normal”) who suddenly goes into a restaurant or theater and shoots people. “He seemed like a nice guy. He even helped Mrs. Glutch carry in her groceries. I never saw this coming.”
Of course, for each of us there is a “normal,” a condition to which we are accustomed. Maybe, however, we should examine our individual “normals” to see whether or not they don’t hide a different “us.” Maybe, our “normals” are a bit unexpected when others view them. Maybe, just maybe, we are the Transformer on Bourbon Street when others view us.
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