Saturday, April 19, 2014

Q is for Quirky

Q is for Quirky

“It was only then that Mark realized he himself was the subject of intense scrutiny from the other side of the bus.

‘Evening.’

The woman lifted her hands high above her head and began to chant something about seven sons and six fathers, and the various blessing s they were seeking to bestow on the favoured ones.
‘I am one of those upon whom the masters shine. I am favoured,’ she said.

‘I’m Mark. How are ya?’

She lowered her hands, and brought them into her chest with the palms facing the roof of the bus. Then she pushed them out simultaneously towards Mark.

‘More will come. Many will come. Many are here already.’

‘Good thing there are plenty of seats,’ said Mark.

The woman allowed her right hand to drop by her side and rest upon her dirty denim handbag. With her left hand she made elaborate stroking gestures across her thick matted hair. Mark watched as the static charges in her hair caused individual hairs to be liberated from the thicket on her head and rise to freedom.

‘The boat people,’ she breathed. ‘The boat people.’

Mark was torn. The conversation was ludicrous but mildly entertaining, and he needed a distraction. Thus far, the crazy old bat had not made a skerrick of sense, but how could he fail to engage, or at least attempt to engage her on the topic of boat people. Unless, of course, she wasn’t talking about illegal arrivals to Australia aboard smugglers’ boats.

He decided to step out on a limb and test the strength of the branch of her sanity. ‘I used to work on a patrol boat.’

‘Then you know the truth.’

Mark’s heart stopped. ‘What truth?’

‘Ashmore Grief.’

‘It’s reef, not grief.’”  From Ashmore Grief, chapter 9







Do you have an eccentric friend? Are you a little idiosyncratic? Call it quirky or call it weird, there is something of the ‘slightly off kilter’ within all of us. Something quidditative. ( Thanks Roshni http://www.indianamericanmom.com/2014/04/weird-words-beginning-with-q.html#comment-7802  ) 


We are all individuals and the mixing of our personalities with our experiences results in a unique and slightly fruity cocktail. Sure some of us are nuttier than others, and some people are much more overtly ‘on another planet’ but we are all different, and it is worth our while to try to be as accommodating of these dissimilarities as possible: to even develop an appreciation for them.

The woman on the bus in Ashmore Grief clearly had a mental problem of some kind, and I don’t want to be insensitive towards or dismissive of those who suffer mental disorders. However, whether we have been diagnosed with something or not, we are all a bit batty sometimes in some of our habits and behaviours. We’re all a bit looney, aren’t we? Or I am out of mind?


Photograph source
http://www.stronggirlswin.com/2012/03/28/whimisical-wednesday-eccentric-pushups/

4 comments:

  1. Nope, I'm nearly insane most of the time. Not certifiably, but near enough that people think I'm weird.

    Liz A. from Laws of Gravity

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  2. Definitely Vicki. It would be very boring. Thanks for visiting and taking time to comment.

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  3. Yes, there's a bit of quirky in all of us. Ashmore Grief sounds like an interesting read. Maria from Delight Directed Living

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