Human ??

How fitting that this prompt should come up on my Birthday. At a time when good health is suspect and a moment when my psyche is feeling bloody sorry for itself.
I decide to see what comes up in photobucket when I type in the word Human. Now most people likely find the image that I fixed upon as disgusting and a very cynical view of being Human but for me I found it to be sobering, centering actually. Almost having the same effect as meditating on being dead. It reminded me of U.G Krishnamurti's proclamation that we are no more or no less then extremely intelligent animals whose main purpose is to sustain life and propagate our species. Again not a very pleasant view of our existence. The majority of us find this concept to be quite distasteful and contrary to our belief that we are put on this earth to be superior to other species, hold dominion over this spinning, circling, speeding planet. We are God's chosen, his image. We are creators in our own right. So... What does it mean to be human?

Let's imagine that I am out hiking in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains immersed in the beauty and sanctity of the forest. Heading for a little stream I know about to sit and communicate with nature when a Grizzly bear crosses my path. Homo Sapien meets Ursus arctos horribilus. I freeze and my mind begins to scramble. Do I run or lay down and curl up in a ball if he attacks? Do I back up slowly? Am I down wind? Does he smell the pastrami sandwich in my backpack? It turns out Mr Grizzly isn't interested in me today, another day I may be lunch or something to play with but today he's more interested in going to a stream he knows about to cool off and do a little fishing. Now I've just had a very real experience with an animal that some Native Americans believe to be their direct ancestors. What a knee shaking, gut wrenching, adrenalin pumping experience that should have been.


I don't think old Griz is going to go back and tell his buddies that he met this fat old white guy in the woods today but I'm positive that I'm going back and telling everybody who will listen about my experience, maybe even get a couple minutes of fame by telling the media about it. It's only Human to do so, but I should have left it there in the woods. That was all it was meant to be. Man can not be anything other then what he is and what he is, is what he experiences in the present moment.

U.G. Krishnamurti

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Where I come from

"Where I come from a true gentleman stands and offers a lady a seat." He was addressing a tall lanky University student sitting on the bench seat directly in front of him. The bus was full of students, packed in like sardines, on their way to their 8:30 class. A young mother with a toddler in tow and loaded down with a backpack full of the child's clothes had just got on board, probably on the way to a Daycare or a Sitter before she herself made her way to work.

"When exactly was that grand-dad, back in the day?" the young student said while continuing to listen his music player.

He rose and offered the young lady his seat and stood directly in front of the smart-ass who was now busy playing with something on his bloody toy. He looked around him and saw that everyone was either plugged in or typing on one device or another. A bus full of bobble heads looking out the windows or at their screens not wanting to acknowledge what was going on around them. Not wanting to get involved. Back in my day, he thought. Back in my day I would have ripped you another asshole. I would have torn your scrawny head off and threw it out the window. That's what I would have done back in my day. He could feel his blood pressure begin to rise and his head begin to throb. He tried to focus on the beautiful day outside. Snowbanks melting in the warm March sun. The hissing of tires on wet pavement through the open windows of the bus. He could feel the cool air wash over him as he stood jammed and jostled on the tightly packed bus.

When he woke up a police officer was pressing something to his forehead and the young lady that he stood for was holding his hand.

"That's a nasty cut you have. I've managed to stop the bleeding but I'm going to get an officer to drive you to the hospital,I think your going to need stitches. We'll take your statement there." the officer said as he helped him to his feet. "For the record, the young man stated that you threw his iphone out the window. Is that a fact?"

He looked out the front window of the bus and seen the lanky student standing by a patrol car waving his hands wildly and pleading with another officer who was trying to get him into the backseat of a cruiser.
"Really? he said; Where I come from that wouldn't be fitting behavior for a gentleman."

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The Invisible style

Guy loved to spend early mornings in the Village, sitting at a sidewalk table savoring a hot cup of coffee, (Americano/3/4 fill) and doing the times crossword. He also loved watching the not fully awake masses on their way to their cubicles, their cash registers, their labor. People watching was his favorite pastime. It was a game to him trying to guess what they were thinking or what they did for a living. Like the young man who just went by on a skateboard, dressed in a suit and tie wearing a porkpie hat and black 'Van' skater shoes. I.P guy at Great West Life, he guessed.

His second most favorite thing in the world was eavesdropping, whether on public transport, in a cue or sitting at a sidewalk table like now, he always had his antenna tuned for anything that could be translated into a good story. There was so much great material to be gleaned by just paying attention to what is going on around him.
If someone were to ask him what superpower he would most like to possess, it would be the power to become invisible.He figured that this would be the coolist superpower of them all. Even without this power he has managed to become next to invisible. He can't remember how he attained this ability or even when it became evident to him that no one really pays attention to him. He can walk into a crowded room and no one notices or acknowledges that he is there. At a party or any gathering where there are people standing or sitting in groups immersed in discussion or heated argument, no one ever asks for his opinion. Which is just as well for he never really has one.

As far back as he can remember he has been able to see instantly the many different sides or possibilities to any argument. Things have never been Black or White to him. He lives in a grey scale world and he is happy with his place in the Universe. He has never consciously tried to be invisible but he has endeavoured to never stand apart from the crowd but rather to blend into his surroundings. He is not the kind of guy who takes one for the team but then again no one would expect it of him. One of the real benefits to being invisible is that people have little or no expectations of you.

You might think that this would be an easy style of life to maintain but you would be wrong. While no one else has any expectations, that bloody little man constantly yammering inside his head does. It is constantly telling him to speak out, to take the lead, to give an opinion and for what! So it can satisfy it's never ending need to be stroked, to be held in high opinion, to stand out and be noticed. No...it's not an easy lifestyle to maintain. He has to constantly take deep breathes and bite his tongue because he has found as he gets older he suffers fools less and less. For the most part he is happy being what's his name...You know the guy who was standing next to you at the bar...

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