Instant Symbolism

The speed to which a day gets filled up can be staggering. I had planned to have today be my day off from any responsibility. In doing so, I decided lunch with Aaron and Amy would be sufficient to achieve these non-goals. But before doing that, I had a really hilarious conversation with Sarah (a friend of Lainey’s) that went all over the place.

Topics of Conversation: Dim sum, fake boobs, different heavens, awful internet videos, sexy Jesus, stink lines, the different uses for squash, etc.

I left my house to pick up Aaron from his work, and then from there we headed out to pick up Amy from her house. We went to Pho Hungry, and I ended up really digging the garlic fried rice. Afterwards, Amy had to head to work, but we decided to catch up with each other again for a spot of Buffy.

Which left Aaron and myself a few hours to kill, which we did with glee. First we drove to Aaron’s place so he could pick up some stuff from his house. He just wanted to pop in and out and be on our way, which left me outside for a moment to witness one of the more strange interactions I’ve seen in a while.

Outside of Aaron’s apartment is a small playground with swings and a tiny jungle gym. Three kids were playing, two boys who were probably 9-years-old and a girl who couldn’t have been more than 6-years-old. The first boy was on the swing and just playing, not paying any attention to the other two. The little girl had a little plastic car-shaped cart that she was busily packing her toys into. And the second boy was standing looking at the little girl, and trying not to cry.

Now, I don’t normally have to try not to laugh at clearly upset children. I know, that sounds awful, but stay with me for a second.

“I don’t understand why you’re crying,” said the little girl, methodically packing away her toys.
“I’m not crying,” hyperventilated the boy.
“You are crying,” confirmed the girl, “You’re supposed to be a big kid.”
The boy said nothing.
“Everybody knows big kids don’t cry,” explained the little girl in disgust, “If you keep crying, I’m going to leave.” The girl said this while putting away the last toy. She turned to look at him, only to see that the boy was on the verge of tears. She then made a noise, grabbed her plastic cart, and walked away.
“I don’t want to be your friend if you’re going to be such a baby,” she said over her shoulder.
The boy did just glanced at her, and stood perfectly still, looking devastated.
All along the boy on the swing just swung higher and higher.

The thing that kept going through my head was that I had just witnessed a very poignant moment in those kids’ lives. It was like I could look into the future, and see each and everyone of their relationships with the opposite sex for the next 40 years. Just a continuous loop of this entire exchange with the exact same context, but different words and details. Just change the setting to a dance club, and the little plastic cart into a car and BOOM! Instant symbolism, folks. She’s an impatient upward-mobile girl getting out of a dead end relationship with yet another immature boyfriend. And he’s just trying not to cry, even though he kind already is.

My brain is a strange machine.

Aaron exited his apartment, and we hit the road. While I was driving, we decided to catch a movie, for want of anything else that could kill three hours. We headed to the 4-Star Cinema, and decided on Diary of a Wimpy Kid, due to both actual interest and the time frame.

The movie was actually pretty enjoyable. The editing was incredibly sharp and funny, and all the kids did a great job. Rowley, Freggley, and Rodrick especially stood out. The most surprising part, and this might be because I have not read the books, was the fact that the main character, Greg, is an unrepentant jerk. He really has a huge opinion of himself and actively screws over his friends. It surprised me that the movie went that angle as fully as it did. I would have thought that they would have went for a more watered down approach. Not the case here, so I have to give them respect.

Probably my biggest issue with the movie was the character of the “Photographer girl.” She was a Mary Sue, and very unnecessary. And upon further research, was created only for the movie. I suppose she was supposed to be the voice of reason, but really, the only voice of reason the audience needed was themselves. But still, a well-done movie.

After the movie, Aaron and I headed back to Lakewood to watch Buffy with Amy at her place. We watched Ted and Bad Eggs. These were obviously more along the lines of filler eps, but really the worst of Buffy’s quota-filling episodes, are still better than entire seasons of other shows. You’ll never see me not want to watch the episodes (except for a few Season 6 eps, but till then…).

Topics of Conversation @ Amy’s: Rude service cuz you’re cheating, dragon politics, Pokemon eggs, X-Men Forever, save files, dragon politics again, punching out of boredom, etc.

-Nate