Running is Dangerous...

I went on a run the other day to one of my favorite parks in Kaohsiung. It is pretty close to my house and has really cool and strange art including but not limited to: a tree house on the ground, a “pull my finger” statue, and other odd shapeless structures. So excited about exploring the cool park, I began my run back home and as I am running, alongside me wheeled an old barefooted man on a motorized cart going a little faster than my running speed.

He looked at me, passed me, and decided he didn’t get a good look the first time so began to turn his head to look again
However, due to instinct or synchronicity, his fingers followed the turn of his head and instead of just his head, he spun the whole wheelchair around at quite the backbreaking speed, sending him flying in the middle of the road, almost hitting a car. I stopped running, and started staring as he continued the spin and then stealthily pretended like he was making a left-hand turn at the intersection.


Of course I made sure he wasn’t hurt or frightened and that he was out of earshot, but I laughed so hard, seeing that “crap! be cool, be cool” look on his face as he squeaked onward.
A girl I met recently was talking about India and said that to experience it, you have to surrender yourself to the country. I think you have to surrender yourself to Taiwan, to the old man steering his cart into traffic trying to stare, to the strange occurrences that happen on a daily basis, and to life in general.