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September 23, 2001
A nice all alone day.

A nice all alone day. First one I've had in a very long time, I think. It was good for me.

In the afternoon, I went out to go maybe to a movie, but the line was too long. I'm not sure what everyone was going to see, maybe Glitter, that new Mariah Carrey movie which I'm sure is excellent. I kept walking, bought a couple bagels, and went to the park to look at people.

I settled down near a baseball game, and man, I was in for a treat. These guys were serious! They had full-on uniforms, a couple of umpires, the whole deal. It must have been a league, of course, maybe the playoffs. As soon as I sat down, there was some action as a base runner got hung up between first and second, but then the guy on third made for to steal home while they were trying to catch the other guy. The second baseman spotted him though and threw the guy out at home, letting the other one get safely back to first. Such excitement! The coach of the batting team started kicking the fence and cursing in Spanish, throwing his hat, and I was practically rolling in the grass. Then on the next play, the runner on first went for second again and was caught for the third out, only to have the batting team's bench practically clear, arguing that the pitcher had balked. I'm not sure what a balk is, really, but man were they mad about it. The coach was yelling in the umpire's face, the players were throwing their helmets around, screaming out rules, demonstrating how the guy lifted his leg wrong or something, whatever he did that would make it a balk. It was hilarious. There was a group of people watching, not related to the game, and they were egging the coach on, "Kick dirt at him! Get in his face! Yeah!"

As if that wasn't enough, after the sides switched and the angry team was in the field, the pitcher was hit with a batted ball, really hard in the hand. He hopped off the field, his whole team chasing him to see if he was alright, and then everybody went running in all directions to get ice. "Hey, the hot dog man has ice!! Get it from the hot dog man!!" That drama lasted a few minutes, and then back to the game.

I sat and ate my bagels, thuroughly amused by the whole thing. It's amazing how angry people get when they're ostensibly out having fun.

A little girl walked by me with her bike, calling for her brother to help her because the back wheel wasn't turning. He refused, as any good brother would, so she kept pushing the bike past me, dragging the back wheel up the hill. I went over and asked her if she needed help and saw that the back brake was cocked sideways, stopping the wheel, so I unhooked it so the wheel would turn. I tried to explain to her that the brake was off now, not to ride it until she got someone to fix it for real, but I don't think she knew what I was talking about. I think her mind was locked on the rule against talking to strangers in the park. I knew she didn't really know what I was talking about, but I figured whe'd walk it home and someone would fix it for her.

As I left the park a few minutes later, I saw her struggling with the brake, near a bench with two older girls. I kept walking, but then I felt guilty and turned around. I pretended to be just happening by, and asked if she had gotten it fixed. She was trying to turn a screw on the brake with a ballpoint pen. I checked it out and it turned out the back wheel was barely even attached to the bike. It was completely crooked, just about ready to fall off, so the brake wasn't aligned at all and was stuck. I put the wheel back on, tightened it, and fixed the brake.

Good story, huh? I'm a hero.

The only reason I think these stories are worth sharing is that they represent the first time in some time that I've been able to sit still and just relax and watch the world. I needed that.

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