Cautiously Approaching Bravery
It may not seem like it, but inside my big loud exterior is a fairly shy person. It is sometimes very hard for me to speak out, especially in a potentially controversial or confrontational situation.
So it's with a little bit of pride that I say I spoke up TWICE on Friday.
The first time, while walking along Oxford Street in Cambridge, two bicyclists passed me and then stopped at the light. They were both wearing helmets and had come to a stop simultaneously and without discussion, as if they did it regularly. As I walked past them, I called out "Thank you for obeying traffic laws!" and kept walking, pausing briefly before my walk light came on and I could cross the street. The woman said something like "Oh!" and I think the man might've said "bicycles are vehicles too!" but I'm not sure. They didn't say anything as they biked past me, once the light was green. (Yes, bicycles ignoring traffic laws and almost knocking me on my ass when I'm a pedestrian and causing accidents when I'm a driver piss me off.)
When I got into Harvard Square, I was so startled by the three tables, each labeled "Stress Test," behind Out of Town News that it took me a couple of steps to realize that they were serious and that no one was protesting them. So, with my next step, just before going around the corner, I yelled out "SCIENTOLOGY IS A CULT!" startling a guy unwrapping a giant L. Ron Hubbard book. (The "church" was a T1 customer back in my bad old BBN/Genuity days and they were one of the worst pains in the butt of ANY customer, including a couple of spamhauses. They were right up there with the web hosting company against whom we had a bestiality image copyright infringement problem and regularly had kiddie porn complaints. Yes, I do believe they are a cult and yes, I do believe they've collectively done a lot of bad things.)
Yep. I'll bet they send their ET Assassins after me for that little act of defiance.