Thursday, October 25, 2007

under my um-brrella

I am kind of a hermit. When I do work, I work at home, and at other times, i am happy to be in my house and find it quite easy to entertain myself. Perhaps this is due to my growing disdain for crowds but I'm pretty sure I've always been hermitious to some degree. Lately, though, I wonder if there's a correlation between this and the fact that I like to hide even when I'm out. I really don't like to walk in the rain but one good thing is the umbrella not only blocks out the rain but also I can shield my face from others.

Why do i do this? Now that i type it out loud, i'm starting to feel like a freak. Ehh.. oh well. Continuing, I also like to wear hats for the same reason. I block out other people. If they can't see me, I can't see them. I don't think I'm one of those people who can't look others in the eye. I don't think I'm scared of people. I'm pretty sure I'm not anti-social. I am familiar with how to behave around others. And yet, sometimes I just prefer my solitude. I'm not really sure what reason I had for posting this. I haven't said anything funny which is HIGHLY uncharacteristic of me. I guess it was the rainy day that reminded me. Actually, let me tell you what it was:

Today i was out with my umbrella and I am extremely wary of shifty/creepy people who say creepy unsolicited and unpleasant things. It's something that, beneath the thick callous i've developed here, is something I still steam about underneath.

Anyway, as i was out i passed a guy who gave me the familiar signs that something grotesque may or may not be emitted from his mouth. His body language was obvious, and ha ha--so was mine. I actually used my umbrella to blatantly shield me from him. He knew it and i knew he knew it. I braced myself and walked by and as i did, he said something, then said something a little louder, trying to combat my umbrella, trying to show me that he wasn't a jerk and that i shouldn't be nasty. He said "good morning!" loudly and directly. Not friendly, but purposefully. I knew his purpose and i begrudgingly accepted his challenge. I know what you're doing here, i thought, but I also want to reinforce this lesson. I threw my head to the side as he was now behind me and replied, "good morning!" back. You talk nice to me, I respond and talk nice to you.

Anyway, suddenly this has become a rant which was not my purpose. We bloggers live for comments and try to think of ways to draw them out and I know, before even re-reading this, that I wouldn't even know what to say about this post. And, I love to comment (what? you, jen? i know.) So, let this be a random tale that may or may not be about anti-socialism, my new favorite word that i thought i made up but i don't think i did: hermitious, or my ever-hardening shield from the unwarranted verbal abuse of urban living. You can choose, and thanks for reading.

(this title is homage to Rihanna and her Umbrella song that for some reason I can't stop listening to)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am inclined to believe that your hermitious qualities can be traced to your exposure to a hostile urban environment for 4+ years. It's those grotesque emitters who are to blame.

By the way, I prefer "Hermitaceous." Thoughts?

Anonymous said...

I agree with Sean.

Joel said...

Hermitious only gets a handful of google hits. So I doubt you heard it anywhere else. I say it's a perfectly cromulent word.

Rachel said...

Hermitituous anyone?

)en said...

hmm....hermitaceous, hermitituous. interesting, interesting. I think i'm going to stand by hermitious, though i do like those.

and i will also pretend that i know what cromulent means.