the crazies

On my way home tonight from work I listened to a conversation between a guy who really seemed to be crazy and some police officers who were doing a routine survey of the area under the Skytrain tracks. It makes me afraid of the people around me.

The guy was lighting matches while wearing what looked like a hare krishna uniform while squatting beside one of the columns that holds up the Skytrain at Main. So the cops did a routine questioning, basically asking what he was doing and if he was going somewhere since he was crouching near the bus stop. (I mean, I would want someone to ask a guy why he's lighting matches under the main mode of transportation that I rely on.) The guy launched into a lengthy tirade about being on public land and being able to do whatever he wanted and they should back off and leave him alone. This went on while he continued to hold matches and start flailing arms and asking for the Criminal Code of Canada. And the cops just stood there passively, not instigating him or saying really anything. At a certain point the guy started being combative and threatened the officers, and they warned him that if he continued with the threats he would be arrested. It would have gone on longer, but some guy came up and started to hug the weird guy and he stopped ranting.

David Sedaris claims that, once you set your mind to it, everyone looks retarded (his word). I just think everyone is crazy. My friend deals with a lot of certifiably crazy people, people who would be safer to themselves and others if they were in a facility that can monitor them. It seems like the Olympics are making crazy people more obvious.

And it hasn't even really begun.