Two Weird Old Men Observations
1. A few days ago, I met a man who looked to be about sixty years old. Upon our introduction, he took my hand in his, raised it to his lips, and then...kissed his own hand. Not mine. His.
This was a first for me. Perhaps he decided at the last minute that my hand wasn't clean enough to touch his lips or maybe he wasn't sure which hand was mine. These things can be tricky!
2. I was taking out my trash the other day at the same time as one of my neighbors, another man who is probably in his sixties, possibly older. After he dumped his trashcan into the community bin, he filled it with water at an outside faucet. I figured that he was just rinsing out his trashcan, but then he poured the water into the community trash, making a truly delicious garbage soup.
...What?
Is there a reason someone would do this? In my experience, there's nothing much more disgusting than garbage. Except for wet garbage. And I'm sure that the sanitation worker who empties our trash bins on a regular basis is very pleased to discover that our garbage is always wet.
And it is always wet, because my window is right by that outside faucet and I can hear his ritual trash moistening a few times a week. And smell it too.
Mark this down as one thing I will not miss about Prague.
This was a first for me. Perhaps he decided at the last minute that my hand wasn't clean enough to touch his lips or maybe he wasn't sure which hand was mine. These things can be tricky!
2. I was taking out my trash the other day at the same time as one of my neighbors, another man who is probably in his sixties, possibly older. After he dumped his trashcan into the community bin, he filled it with water at an outside faucet. I figured that he was just rinsing out his trashcan, but then he poured the water into the community trash, making a truly delicious garbage soup.
...What?
Is there a reason someone would do this? In my experience, there's nothing much more disgusting than garbage. Except for wet garbage. And I'm sure that the sanitation worker who empties our trash bins on a regular basis is very pleased to discover that our garbage is always wet.
And it is always wet, because my window is right by that outside faucet and I can hear his ritual trash moistening a few times a week. And smell it too.
Mark this down as one thing I will not miss about Prague.