The blind cock from Bangkok?
Trip Start
Unknown
1
4
14
Trip End
Ongoing
Bangkok,
Thailand
Sunday, October 19, 2008
real and imagined, that separate us from one another literally and
figuratively. And being in a country where you can't even pretend to
speak the language, I mean, it's 5 days on now and we're still
struggling with "thank you," makes the separation between us and them
seem that much more profound. And while there are some things that
truly divide us, we are constantly discovering seemingly small things
that remind us that after all, we are as they say in Thailand, "same
same, but different." And so I present:
Same Same - the desire to stand tall and proud of who we are and where we are headed
But different - doorways that hit me right above the eyebrows every time I try to do so
Same Same - this amazing food, rich, fragrant, and very very spicy
But different - their lack of interest in toilet paper
Same Same - a love of the open road, riding in or on a motorized vehicle
But different - useless, purely theoretical Western concepts like "lanes" and "yielding"
Same Same - seafood
But different - seafood
How'd that cock get up so high in the first place?
It's a combination of factors, really, as it is so often in life, that
made us hate that rooster so. While entering our guest house last
evening I thought, "how impressive!" I've seen plenty a bird on
a powerline, but never a rooster. Perched up high, chest out, so
self-important a bird was he that, though I still don't know what "cock
of the walk," means, now I feel like I have an idea. It's kind if nice
that on some shitty street in Bangkok, surrounded by over-funded,
under-deserving white kids in this the "backpacker's ghetto," that
someone around here is trying to actually do something with himself
instead of just strutting about, scratching at the ground, picking and
choosing whatever theological, cultural, or political artifact seems to
suit his fancy.
What I failed to consider is just how successful that rooster would be at his job, resting even with our second story window.
Pardon me sir, I'd like to buy a wristwatch for my cock.
Now the rooster may perform some vital ecological function out in
nature, screaming like that jackass Gator fan behind you during the
annual whooping of the Dawgs in Jacksonville, but like that stupid fat
redneck he's just telling you what you already know. And even if he
would be serving this urban community by announcing the coming dawn,
he's damn sure not helping us by announcing it at 3:00 am. I thought
animals were supposed have all of these amazing abilities like finding
their way 10,000 miles to the same pile of rocks they were hatched
under, predicting earthquakes, and just tasting so good when deep
fried. But any moron can look around at 3 in the morning and say,
"hmm... nope, not quite yet." Any moron that is except my friend the
blind cock from Bangkok.
