Most days start off the same in my little stopover here in Brisbane. Reluctantly leave my bed cozy, shower, dress (important one, that!) then take a gentle stroll to the train station, about 10 minutes' walk. Normally, my mind remains in a blissful early hours blankness at this stage, soothed with the tunes Trusty IPod™ provides into believing I could still at any second return to my slumber. Little known to me, today was to be full of vexing imponderables.
This morning, as I reached the station, I saw two birds sitting between the tracks, fighting over a worm (well, they do say the early ones get them!)
But here's the thing...as I looked closer, I saw it was a gummy worm. Yep, candy, in an (apparently) all-too-convincing worm shape. It brought so many questions to mind, most far too taxing for that hour of the morning. Are they fooled by anything worm shaped? Would they squabble over, say, a broken hair band (being long and stretchy also), or is the pretence of being a worm with a wee face painted on a must? Having won the battle for the worm, will they taste it decide they like & become eternal devotees, or leave it in disgust, feeling cheated? Most important, where can I get one?!! These questions remaining unanswered, perhaps for eternity, alas, alas, I continued along the platform.
Boarding the train and snagging for my very own bottom a coveted rush-hour seat, I spied with my little eye a helpful public service sign: "Please give up these seats for elderly people, people with disabilites and expectant mothers/adults carrying children". Very thoughtful, Queensland Rail are. So thoughtful, in fact, that they had translated it into Braille underneath. This posed for me a second set of questions for my brand-new day: Is blindness not considered a disability?Would you be perfectly within your rights to refuse to give up a seat for a blind person, saying, "Sorry, mate, feel the sign"? Do they list them in order of importance - what if you were forced to choose between giving your seat to an old lady or a lady pregnant with twins? Does QR provide guidelines for just such a dilemma?
As we neared Central station, Trusty Ipod™ kicked up a gear with "Sexy Bi&*@". This song is somewhat of a favourite with me right now, and every fibre of me wanted to break into the kind of shake-your-booty grind usually reserved for the drunker hours of Saturday mornings. For serveral seconds, I contemplated doing just that. What, do you think, would be the reaction of the 300 or so early-morning commuters, dressed identically in their white shirts/blouses and smart black pants, quietly and unobtrusively reading their novels or playing games on their IPhones, if this innocuous looking fellow commuter suddenly stood up and began busting moves to rival those of MCHammer? Answers on a postcard, please. Maybe one day I'll have the guts. For those of you who know me (and for those who don't me, how did you come to be reading my blog exactly?), you know this isn't just an idle threat. I'll keep you "posted" (tee hee).
This morning, as I reached the station, I saw two birds sitting between the tracks, fighting over a worm (well, they do say the early ones get them!)
But here's the thing...as I looked closer, I saw it was a gummy worm. Yep, candy, in an (apparently) all-too-convincing worm shape. It brought so many questions to mind, most far too taxing for that hour of the morning. Are they fooled by anything worm shaped? Would they squabble over, say, a broken hair band (being long and stretchy also), or is the pretence of being a worm with a wee face painted on a must? Having won the battle for the worm, will they taste it decide they like & become eternal devotees, or leave it in disgust, feeling cheated? Most important, where can I get one?!! These questions remaining unanswered, perhaps for eternity, alas, alas, I continued along the platform.
Boarding the train and snagging for my very own bottom a coveted rush-hour seat, I spied with my little eye a helpful public service sign: "Please give up these seats for elderly people, people with disabilites and expectant mothers/adults carrying children". Very thoughtful, Queensland Rail are. So thoughtful, in fact, that they had translated it into Braille underneath. This posed for me a second set of questions for my brand-new day: Is blindness not considered a disability?Would you be perfectly within your rights to refuse to give up a seat for a blind person, saying, "Sorry, mate, feel the sign"? Do they list them in order of importance - what if you were forced to choose between giving your seat to an old lady or a lady pregnant with twins? Does QR provide guidelines for just such a dilemma?
As we neared Central station, Trusty Ipod™ kicked up a gear with "Sexy Bi&*@". This song is somewhat of a favourite with me right now, and every fibre of me wanted to break into the kind of shake-your-booty grind usually reserved for the drunker hours of Saturday mornings. For serveral seconds, I contemplated doing just that. What, do you think, would be the reaction of the 300 or so early-morning commuters, dressed identically in their white shirts/blouses and smart black pants, quietly and unobtrusively reading their novels or playing games on their IPhones, if this innocuous looking fellow commuter suddenly stood up and began busting moves to rival those of MCHammer? Answers on a postcard, please. Maybe one day I'll have the guts. For those of you who know me (and for those who don't me, how did you come to be reading my blog exactly?), you know this isn't just an idle threat. I'll keep you "posted" (tee hee).
Later, I happened upon a site that translates words into a multitude of other languages while searching for something for work (I swear). This site, too, was to leave me wondering. I typed in the word "plunger" in the hopes of gaining a valuable word to use in any situation, in any language when abroad (plus, I already know how to say it in Swedish, thanks Sarah!). Take a look at these two translations and tell me if you can guess what my question was:
Chinese (Simplified)) 跳水者, 活塞, 潜水者, 冒险的投机者
Chinese (Traditional) 跳水者, 活塞, 潛水者, 冒險的投機者
After work, tired and ready for a good sit down in front of FlashForward (and it's amazing, no?) I realized there was one more question in store for me that day, only this time, it's one shared by women everywhere and one to which, no matter how many times you answer it, it's ready and waiting to pop up on you the very next day. That question?
What the heck am I gonna make for dinner?!
UPDATE:
I found an answer to at least one of my imponderables (thank you Google/YouTube). See the post below for what would happen if you dance in a train station. Pretty cool. However, if you only want to watch one video today, that led me to the one below that, which is even more amusing :)
