Don't revel in another's misfortune.
But it might be funny.
I was waiting for the buses to arrive and pick Smallsteps up from her camp trip, and I was early, so I sat on the stones in the town square under the trees. A woman I didn't know soon arrived and sat down next to me to wait also, got out her laptop, and started doing something.
One at a time, mothers I did know started arriving to get their children, and a small group of us were talking, with me introducing the ones who didn't know each other, as they are from another school that Smallsteps went to earlier. One parent arrived at the same time as seagulls started getting a little closer and whirling around, saying that seagulls and pigeons are one of her fears.
We then went on to talk about the kids being away and how weird it was for some parents to not have contact with the kids, not be able to call or track and all that. And then we laughed about how our parents didn't have that option, and we were all better off for it.
A small noise caught my attention.
I turned and about a meter away from me, a seagull had taken a crap with it landing square in the middle of the touchpad on the laptop the woman was using. No one else noticed and I don't think the woman saw that I saw either, but it took a fair amount of willpower not to laugh. I checked my pockets and had no paper to offer, but it seems that past the initial shock and wtf moment, she saw the opportunity, took a photo and sent it to a friend, or her Instagram or something.
For me, it wasn't funny because it was her misfortune, it was funny because it was like a small scene from a movie, where someone was "trying to do the right thing" and get her work done, and nature just wasn't having a bar of it. Plus, it is not like she was really going to get much done while sitting in the position she was, with all the noise and the kids about to arrive anyway. So it was a fruitless activity to begin with.
Plus, it was a work computer.
Best bit of the day.
For personal "misfortune" however, we have our trip booked for a couple weeks away from now in the "old but reliable" campervan of our friend. However, he called my wife today and said that the gearbox has an issue and it might not be driveable in time, so we should have a backup plan, just in case. At this point, we have no backup, but we can think of something. Still, it will be disappointing to not be able to do this road trip, as we were looking forward to the new experience. It might still be possible, but it is starting to get into the territory of "unnecessary friction" if the van isn't actually reliable. I think I would rather go with a plan B activity, then be stuck in the middle of nowhere with Plan A.
Roll with the punches though.
And soon a few more "punches" might be coming as I will go to bed and wake up in a few hours to watch the Australia v Paraguay game. The hours for these games can be pretty bad for Europe and it kills the opportunities to watch the game on a terrace with friends. In past world cups, there have been screens set up in the city, all the terraces and bars are full - but now it is a ghost town.
Maybe I am too old for being in a lively bar anyway.
As for being shat on by a bird, I have heard it is good luck.
Maybe the woman's luck was that she had a good excuse why she didn't finish her report.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Be part of the Hive discussion.
- Comment on the topics of the article, and add your perspectives and experiences.
- Read and discuss with others who comment and build your personal network
- Engage well with me and others and put in effort
And you may be rewarded.
There must be a seagull world, and that seagull , somewhere, is telling its friends about the perfect shot with extra beef. Nature has its own sense of humor.
And Idk why, but it is quite embarrassing thing to happen. Although, it is just a natural phenomenon.
The seagull is probably telling his mates that he is helping humans get off screens, one drop at a time.
It is embarrassing, also... Bird crap in the keyboard can't be fun.
They say in Russian that if a bird poops on you, that means that you are about to come into some money.
It is pretty funny that seagull was so precise with her bombing 😀
I wish I would have got a photo of it. It was like a advert where someone is having a bad day, and that just tops it off.
In Germany, it's a sign of good luck to be shit on by a bird :-D
If you have or can borrow basic camping equipment maybe this might be a good opportunity to try out the closer camping spots if the campervan can't be fixed in time? :)
Then you can duck home to drop off the laundry and collect the mail as some people apparently like to do when they go camping XD
I remember reading that on reddit on one of my random lunch searches
Wonder if the lady came to a similar conclusion (that it's like a scene from a movie) to you hence/while taking the photo xD Least she had a good attitude about it.
Meanwhile I'm sure the seagull is flexing about landing that perfect shot XD
We could try the camping, but not sure if my wife will be keen to join. Plus... Dog. But if close, maybe a failure is okay. :)
Check the mail? :D
I was trying to put myself in her shoes... I think I'd be annoyed. But in front of people, what can you do?
You're not taking the dog?!
If you haven't been for a while or at all being just far enough to feel like camping but close enough where if something goes really wrong you can just pack it up and go home in a reasonable amount of time is probably a good idea :)
And I mean worst case scenario if you really want to practise and see how much people are going to complain you could always just pitch a tent in the backyard and spend the night out there XD
I think I would have been annoyed too! Mostly because I HATE sticky things and bird crap can very sticky especially when goopy x_x And she might have been initially but she might be one of those people who can be quiet annoyed and was just kind of glaring at it before finding a funny side.
If you lived in Istanbul, you would travel alongside seagulls on the ferry while crossing between the European and Asian sides, feeding them along the way :)
If you feed them, do they poop less, or more?
No matter, it would end up in the sea anyway 😄
It seems that in a world of constant comparison, seeing someone else fall provides a fleeting, albeit dark, sense of security. It’s as if their failure validates our current stability. Do you think this desensitization is permanent, or are we just drowning in too much 'noise' to feel genuine empathy anymore?
I think empathy is a flawed trigger, as it requires us to understand enough to feel something. Now, we are generally dar too self-absorbed to even notice what is around us, let alone recognize the suffering of others and have a compassionate approach.
The humorous experience of waiting for the kids and observing a seagull spoiling that woman’s laptop made me laugh LoL. It is true that we are not supposed to ridicule others but there are cases when some events seem to be taken straight out of comedy movies..
Getting up so early to watch soccer is not possible for me, I have mentioned earlier I am Cricket Lover, but in real I never wake up early to watch the match but yes "to Play"...
Cricket is not na early game, they are happy to start at 10, then break for lunch, tea....
Hmm, you right. I have watched some Matches of Soccer and I guess they continuously play for 90 minutes without any break, right?
Well, there is a half time break.
I like how she didn't get angry and just accepted it with a smile. Life sometimes gives us moments like that, and the best thing we can do is laugh and move on. I hope your road trip still works out in the end.
and do you find that these unexpected disruptions often lead to more interesting stories than the original, perfectly planned itineraries would have
You have to laugh at the metaphor or symbolism of the crapping anyhow. Moments like that are best when they translate from disappointment/frustration to humour in the futility of being angry.
Most of the games are on here in the afternoon and I probably would have had a hard time catching them even if I was interested. I just love how the socceroos and Scots are going to big with their misbehaving and drinking pubs dry. Representing!
Good old birds, always in to create a chuckle!
How was the game? Worth waking up so early?
Ecuador vs. Germany was a lot of fun. I'm really glad that Ecuador won, hopefully they'll make it to the next round. Though I don't like that the president announced yet another holiday. He really does love declaring holidays whenever he feels like it. As a non-tourist business, that's not fun for us. But we'll manage.
As to laughing about others - I think there's a difference between just laughing about their misfortune, and laughing while trying to help them out of it. Like you did, searching for paper. Nothing bad happened, really, a speck on the laptop hopefully won't ruin the machine. And considering the mood of the other person helps, too. The more I think about it, the more variables I think of :-D