find more people who have an affection for the absurd

On Friday I got home and found a notice of delivery attempt in my mail for a package I ordered from Amazon. I talked to my mail carrier on Saturday about getting the package and she told me that if I stopped by the post office at 3, she would give it to me as she got off her shift. I said that I would walk over there at that time, to which she replied, “Oh, you can’t do that; it’s too far.”

I answered, “Oh, it’s not much further than the grocery store and I walk over there all the time.”

She looked at me with suspicion and said, “Don’t you have a car?”

Now, that’s not so absurd, but what I find very odd is that we have many in our neighborhood who put on track suits and running shoes and go walking random and aimless paths around the neighborhood, only to end up back at home and no one questions this somewhat pointless behavior, yet if I put on good shoes and go walked with the object of actually reaching a destination and getting back home again, I am somehow suspect.

I guess this is because we live in a society where people drive over to the gym, park as close to the door as they can possibly get (after driving around the parking lot for 15 minutes, wasting gas while they wait for a parking space to open up close to the front), and then go in and pay someone to help them exercise so they can lose weight. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I’m starting to realize that I think life is absurd pretty much of the time, as well as ironic and tragic and hilarious. And people are absurd. I had a coworker tell me today that he wanted to “communicate”. It turns out he wanted to be the communicator, but didn’t want to be a communicatee, as if he is Walter Cronkite doing commentary. I told him that the very essence of communication implied a two-way exchange of ideas, thoughts, feelings, yada yada. So apparently he wants communication without real communication. Now how absurd is that?

Now, that’s pretty absurd. And belly buttons are absurd. And most of the evening news. And life—life is pretty absurd.

But none of them can beat that kitty with the citrus helmet. And that’s nowhere near as absurd as it’s gonna get when that kitty busts out its moves ‘cause it’s insulted someone smashed an old citrus skin down over its ears and then took a picture.

OK—skip it. This whole entry is kinda absurd.