Miranda and I were at Panera Bread in Ann Arbor last week while Brad was at his youth activity at our church. Since our church is a half hour away so we usually just drop Brad off and then hang out at Panera until he is done. So last week we were doing our usual thing, me with a big cup of coffee and my lap top catching up on work, Miranda with a bottle of Orange Lime Jones Soda finishing homework. Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan and is a huge draw for international students. You expect to see lots of different nationalities and hear many different languages spoken, so there was nothing unusual when a young Indian man sat down at the table next to ours and began taking in a very thick Indian accent on his cell phone. He finishes his phone call and suddenly his phone rings again. This time however he answers with "Hey dude, how are ya?" with absolutely no accent at all. Miranda and I just looked at each other over the lap top and start laughing. And that's not all. When he is done talking he starts eating his meal. Eating is too polite. He slurps and gulps down his food making as much noise as possible. Again, Miranda and I are doing our best not to laugh out loud at this guy. Then he gets up and swishes....not walks, over to the garbage to throw away his trash. He swishes back and then opens one of the five books he has with him and begins studying. Do yo think he can do that in the usual way.....OH NO HE CAN NOT. He begins to rock back and forth, hard, like someone with Autism might do. Miranda dubbed him the "Confused, Gay, Indian, Autistic, Guy". We laughed so hard at this poor guys expense, not just that night but every time she re-tells the story. Then I had a thought. What if someone-somewhere is laughing while telling a story about something I did in public. It's possible. In fact, earlier that day I was on my way to a client meeting in downtown Detroit and had to use the bathroom in the worst way. After stopping at three gas stations in a row looking for a restroom and being told "no bathrooms here" I lost it and starting crying at the attendant to "Please....please let me use your bathroom. I'll pay you to use it" He took pity on me and unlocked the tiny, filthy bathroom. Yeah-I bet that night he was telling his wife about the crazy lady who was about to pee her pants. So, who's stranger than who? Guess I really shouldn't laugh about other people....it's really not nice. We all do some pretty laughable stuff in public at times. But, you know, the way Miranda tells the story about the "Confused, Gay, Indian, Autistic, Guy".....it really is funny!
