On the Side of the Road

I was with my brother. We were driving to Kamloops. We were talking, as people often do, about all sorts of things. But we were drawn into a silence when we passed a person. He was an Asian man, no problems here. He was sitting on the stump of a tree. Still, no problems -- nothing that would draw us into silence for a split second. The stump as at the end of the driveway. Still no reason to pay attention, only it was what he was doing -- rocking out to a guitar while sitting on a tree stump at the end of his driveway that was next to the highway. The whys of this will never be answered -- we didn't stop to ask him. But it silenced my conversation with my brother as we both wondered a moment, then voiced this wonderment with the all encompassing exclamation of misunderstanding -- What. The fuck.

Mind you, I've seen some interesting things in my life, but a man rocking out on his guitar while on a tree stump next a highway takes the proverbial cake on this one. At least until I can remember another little twisted thing from the depths of my memory. But, it wasn't just the fact that he was playing guitar, but the way. Head banging was taking place, full body rocking -- a back-and-forth as he slashed himself through the air his hands tracing the strings frantically.

Again, I won't know the why. I could speculate, but that's all it would be. But I'll do it just the same:

1. Maybe he was trying to cheer up drivers with his antics. They were amusing to see, and after the episode of confusion had passed, I laughed.
2. Maybe he's trying to distract drivers and cause an accident. Wouldn't be an impossibility.
3. Maybe he's actually a hitchhiker and doesn't actually live at the house at the end of the driveway and this is his best method for getting people to pull over and give him a ride. A bum on the road with his thumb up? You might pass him. But a bum on the side of the road playing a guitar with so much energy and just hoping to get a ride to his next destination while playing "Stairway to Heaven"? Oh, very possible indeed.

Either or, it certainly made my day.