Don't revel in another's misfortune.
But it might be funny.
I was waiting for the buses to arrive and pick Smallsteps up from her camp trip, and I was early, so I sat on the stones in the town square under the trees. A woman I didn't know soon arrived and sat down next to me to wait also, got out her laptop, and started doing something.
One at a time, mothers I did know started arriving to get their children, and a small group of us were talking, with me introducing the ones who didn't know each other, as they are from another school that Smallsteps went to earlier. One parent arrived at the same time as seagulls started getting a little closer and whirling around, saying that seagulls and pigeons are one of her fears.
We then went on to talk about the kids being away and how weird it was for some parents to not have contact with the kids, not be able to call or track and all that. And then we laughed about how our parents didn't have that option, and we were all better off for it.
A small noise caught my attention.
I turned and about a meter away from me, a seagull had taken a crap with it landing square in the middle of the touchpad on the laptop the woman was using. No one else noticed and I don't think the woman saw that I saw either, but it took a fair amount of willpower not to laugh. I checked my pockets and had no paper to offer, but it seems that past the initial shock and wtf moment, she saw the opportunity, took a photo and sent it to a friend, or her Instagram or something.
For me, it wasn't funny because it was her misfortune, it was funny because it was like a small scene from a movie, where someone was "trying to do the right thing" and get her work done, and nature just wasn't having a bar of it. Plus, it is not like she was really going to get much done while sitting in the position she was, with all the noise and the kids about to arrive anyway. So it was a fruitless activity to begin with.
Plus, it was a work computer.
Best bit of the day.
For personal "misfortune" however, we have our trip booked for a couple weeks away from now in the "old but reliable" campervan of our friend. However, he called my wife today and said that the gearbox has an issue and it might not be driveable in time, so we should have a backup plan, just in case. At this point, we have no backup, but we can think of something. Still, it will be disappointing to not be able to do this road trip, as we were looking forward to the new experience. It might still be possible, but it is starting to get into the territory of "unnecessary friction" if the van isn't actually reliable. I think I would rather go with a plan B activity, then be stuck in the middle of nowhere with Plan A.
Roll with the punches though.
And soon a few more "punches" might be coming as I will go to bed and wake up in a few hours to watch the Australia v Paraguay game. The hours for these games can be pretty bad for Europe and it kills the opportunities to watch the game on a terrace with friends. In past world cups, there have been screens set up in the city, all the terraces and bars are full - but now it is a ghost town.
Maybe I am too old for being in a lively bar anyway.
As for being shat on by a bird, I have heard it is good luck.
Maybe the woman's luck was that she had a good excuse why she didn't finish her report.
Taraz
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