The Internet Gods are Angry
Chuckle chuckle. Even The White House and Barack Obama like Zooey Deschanel. Ah, what a wonderful woman. Happy Birthday to you, Zooey! (if only this was twitter, am I right?) For those of you who don't know her? Too bad. Wikipedia is down.
I suppose it’s only suitable for me to write about the Wikipedia blackout experience I had. I was sitting in front of the Exchange Plaza this morning, wondering why I wore a suit to work on such a hot day, when the news came on my radio station (I am possessive because I like it so very much and associate myself with it even though I’m not an audiophile. I’m more of a logophile, myself) - something about a blackout of the “US based website Wikipedia”. I felt like Australia was such a backwater country at that moment in time. Like people didn’t know where Wikipedia was from. Well, to be fair, I wasn’t SURE that it was based in, or had servers in the USA (and there’s no way for me to check now, at least not in an expeditious manner). They talked about SOPA like it was something new. Ugh. I’d heard people complaining about it months ago! (/internet elitism)
Anyway, so I was sitting there, in the windy chamber outside the place I’m working currently, wondering if I should grab a Chai Latte (they’re very sweet, by the way) from the Aroma café in front of me, when suddenly I see this feeble old lady hobble past me. She has her grooved bamboo walking stick, a head of much combed white hair, a proverbial fruit basket of a dress and an adorable little old lady handbag. She walks past me, agonisingly slowly. I’m generally used to people NOT sitting next to me, whether they’re worried about me not having enough space, or they think I smell or they’re just scared of me, for whatever reason… people just don’t sit down next to me. So, I expected this old croon to wander off somewhere else (is croon pejorative? I hope not.) But she plonks herself down right next to me.
Gee, what a brave lady.
I just smile and continue listening to whatever great song is playing on Triple J (yep, go look it up! Triple J) = www.anc.net.au/triplej/ <<< and then I see some movement out of my peripheral vision. What’s the old lady up to now? She already awkwardly placed her cane on the seat before sitting down and delicately placing that slightly oversized handbag onto her lap (it’s a thing with women. I don’t understand it myself, but they seem to enjoy having their bags/handbags/whatever on their lap whenever they’re sitting down, even if there’s SO much space all around. Obviously I’m generalising, maybe it’s only self-conscious women. But isn’t that all women? (see what I did there? DOUBLE STEREOTYPE!)). What was this old lady up to?
She pulls out a cigarette.
Perhaps she was sent to punish my nostrils and lung. But I breathed second hand smoke for a good two minutes (and remember, this is in the windy courtyard, and she’s sitting upwind from me. Right next to me.) before I decided it was sufficiently long to amount to a natural exit, not attributed to her smoking. Of course, I’m a hypocrite. I say I don’t apologize, but I’m afraid to insult the chain smoking old lady. Ah. But the again, I’m sure by that age, most old lady couldn’t give a gobswabble about what some kid thinks of them.
Well, goodnight! And may your breathing air be city-fresh (oxymoron.) and smoke-free (unless you like smoke. Then… well, no judgment. J)