A day can be very different for people based on their perspective.  Being someone who enjoys observing what others are up to, and someone who tries to think of my own day, I am often intrigued by how the perspective of different people matches up with the others.  So, I would like to comment at least briefly today about the day as was conveyed to me by people I happened to be around, to see what seemed to make their day better or to harm or even ruin it.  Perhaps if we look at enough instances and case studies we can gather some insight on how we should behave, and on what makes those around us tick, and what kind of strange and unusual sorts of events happen even on fairly mundane and ordinary days, to remind us that no matter how undramatic our lives may seem to us, that they are full of little touches of humor that we can appreciate whether happily or grimly.

Work is always good for a sense of humor.  For example, on the way to work I was behind a driver who was proud of his service in the Gulf War and being a veteran, as he drove a somewhat beat up truck along the same back roads over the West Hills to avoid the horrific traffic on the interstate that I was trying to avoid.  Unfortunately, he appeared to be unable to drive the speed limit along the admittedly curvy road, which probably did not lead to him enjoying the line of cars behind him along the miles of road until I turned off to 185th Street north of the Hillsboro-Beaverton City Limits.  Once I got to work I was amused at the fact that it appeared at least a few people had something to hide, as I got a request not to send a report out to others because of concern about scrutiny over the numbers, and another person was stashing Legos in their office [1] because his wife does not approve of his buying expiring Lego sets to flip for profit.  We all have our vices, and a certain speculative desire to buy and flip is a common vice among the people I know, and one I look at with a certain sense of polite detachment.

My own day happens to have been made by one of my own characteristic vices.  While I was in the process of reviewing the mass of books that I had read this weekend, my previous reading of both books on alchemy/esoteric philosophy [2] and Harry Potter led Goodreads to suggest a book to me on the occult nature of Rowling’s Harry Potter series, from the point of someone who was celebrating her research into such matters.  Needless to say, it is entirely unsurprising that the book was not endorsed by Rowling or anyone associated with the book, but it made for a must-read and so I added it to my queue at the library to pick up, hopefully, later this week.  Given that Rowling’s works depend on maintaining a complex coalition between those interested in magic and esoteric aspects of alchemy and related arts and fairly liberal and progressive Christians, anything that jeopardizes that coalition would be immensely unwelcome to her or to her publishers, no matter how unpleasant her research into such matters may appear to some readers.  Far be it from me to avoid truths that make other people feel awkward and uncomfortable.

Of course, not everyone is as friendly even when they are reveling in what is awkward.  One of my friends happens to, for a variety of reasons, be very unusual in her particular country, and has to endure people calling her a Mongol [3].  Now, it’s not clear whether she is Mongolian at all, but it is rather striking and odd that people would feel comfortable to insult strangers, and it makes more clear why a Scandinavian band (Miike Snow) would use Genghis Khan as a negative reference.  Apparently Scandinavians have Mongols on the brain, despite the fact that they didn’t invade closer than Poland and Russia.  I’m not sure why this would be the case–the Mongols had one glorious moment on the world scene, and it was one of the greatest empires of all time, and then their martial prowess became sapped by unproductive Buddhist priesthood.   Yet even if their time has passed, their memory and reputation live on to amuse us and to serve as a way of bludgeoning friendly strangers who happen to look a little bit odd and unusual.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/book-review-the-united-states-of-lego/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/07/24/det-bedste-er-ikke-for-godt-a-lego-story/

[2] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/08/16/book-review-an-introduction-to-alchemical-philosphy/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/07/18/book-review-occult-america/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/pardes/

[3] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/07/12/a-city-for-people-who-hate-cities/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/12/23/book-review-makers-of-history-genghis-khan/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/the-accidental-traveling-librarian-or-the-material-culture-of-nomads/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/book-review-the-empire-of-the-steppes-a-history-of-central-asia/