Driving to work today, in a rotten mood, I came to a stoplight and grudgingly stepped on my break. I cast my eyes left to watch the cars creep into motion, but as I followed them across the intersection, something more interesting caught my eye.
A man, bouncing gleefully from foot to foot, arms swinging around like a monkey or a goofball. My first instinct was to scowl softly as he tipped his chin up and gave the sky a smile and a sly wink. He came to a stop at the corner and rested his temple against the pole. Having ceased to walk, and therefore unable to bounce anymore, he seemed to consider what he had just done. In public. And his smile broke like a dam and gave way to a wave of laughter. He stood there, laughing, as long as I could see him.
I considered the man throughout the rest of my drive. My initial reaction had been that he must be absolutely loony and what a freak... but how narrow-minded could I get? Maybe he had just fallen in love. Maybe he had been hit by a happy stick. Maybe he just quit the job that he had loathed for the past six years.
Maybe he was just happy.
I felt a tremulous sorrow fill me up, and it continues to trouble me as I write these very words. Why is the world so sad? Why is it such a queer and distasteful sight to see a man dancing jovially through the street? Why was my first thought not to rejoice along with him? Share in his triumph, whatever it might have been? Why can't we all be so carefree and joyful? To hop from one foot to the other, throwing our arms about without a care, laughing, and loving every moment...
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