Oahu Bus Conspiracy

Sooo, slept in till 9:15 AM today. . .yeah, I know, living large. Princess is the first cat I've met who likes to sleep under the covers. I rolled over and practically killed her sometime during the night--she was down by my knees underneath the comforter. But still she came back. This has to be the most loving cat alive.

Ate breakfast and was once again offended when, upon telling Carl I was going to work again today, he said "Oh, you're not a beachgirl."

Baby, I was born by the beach. I love the beach. Have lived with the beach! I do take offense to the insinuation. I haven't spent alot of time at the beach, but mainly this is because of the extreme amount of sunblock I need to apply to avoid burning. It's a big pain. And when I'm all by myself, I can't really leave my stuff and hop in the ocean, so there's little point to my going alone. It's just not much fun. Besides, there's alot of other things I'd like to do here. I'm just sensitive to the idea that I'm not seeing enough of the island. I can't vacation from that notion apparently. I want to just enjoy Oahu like a local: go to the beach when I feel like it, wander around whenever, eat wherever. . . .the beauty is everywhere. OK, rant done.

As soon as possible, I walked down to the shopping plaza, bought myself a shoulder-bag (so I'd have an alternative to my hefty backpack) and some delicious tom yam soup from the Vietnamese place, and sat down to wait for the bus. It was there that I overheard two guys talking, although for awhile I just ignored them and began reading my Phillip K. Dick short stories. But inevitably the same topic kept arising between them, again and again, very loudly in fact.

"man, then these BIG GUYS sat down, yeah! and they just kept looking at us, and talking!"

Obviously, this upset the louder of the two men. It may sound silly, but I could hear the tone of a revolutionary in his voice. . someone who likes to stir up thought and trouble, and has enough theories to fill your ear for many an afternoon. So I put my book away, ready my bus pass, and try to listen in. But it's all too fast and rambling for me to catch, even when we get on the bus. Even when one friend leaves and the louder man finds another buddy, I can only pick up the refrain "man, then these BIG GUYS sat down, yeah! and they just kept looking at us, and talking!"

I imagine his eyes got wider as he lowers his voice to tell his friend:"The time has come, my friend. I was just waiting to see an armband with Department of Homeland Security on one of em'!"

He then proceeded with a casual discourse on the FBI being able to tap into every computer now, monitoring the websites people visit, etc. Who knows, perhaps the time HAS come. Personally, I never worry to much about that kind of stuff, but then again it's the American thing to do. I had just finished reading a short essay by P.K. Dick on what is science fiction, the ending lesson being that good sciece fiction takes our society and uses a good idea to take it down a different path, or one of many possible paths. And we DO live in interesting times, what with books like "1984," "Farenheit 451," and "Brave New World" which whisper the same ideas we are sometimes, and inevitably more often, seeing today. I'm excited to be living now, although sometimes a little concerned.

Finally, the guys hopped off at the Ala Moana shopping center--where they were bound for, I'll never know. I still wonder if perhaps the big guys who sat down beside them were just looking at these two guys who were talking loudly, filling the room with conspiracy theories. I'd look too, perhaps. But then again, maybe the guy was right. Maybe the time has come :)