Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Saturday, March 08, 2008

A homeless guy, a duck, and a large screwdriver

Saw the weirdest thing this afternoon. Me and the kids were at Chung-Hsing University campus amusing ourselves in the vicinity of the lake when I notice this homeless guy creeping towards some ducks underneath a bush by the water. All of sudden he dashes forward, dives at full stretch and succeeds in grabbing one of them. Pulling it out flapping and squawking, he gets to his feet. I stand there agog as he carries the poor creature over to his bike.

Before I could properly formulate the thought 'Please oh please tell me isn't going to kill that duck right here and now in front of my kids', he reaches into a black bag and pulls out a long, green-handled screwdriver. He sees me looking on in horror and gestures with the screwdriver, making the international sign of 'I'm about to kill and possibly also eviscerate this duck so you might want to think about moving right along at this point'. Message duly received and understood, I gather together the kids who are nearby. As we're moving away along the path, up bounds a tall teenager. Nothing is said but the homeless guy quickly realizes that boy hero is not going to let him do the duck. He then wheels the duck around and flings it in the direction of the lake. And that was that.

I can only assume that the guy was hoping to sell the duck to a restaurant, or maybe he just hates ducks. No idea. In a strange kind of way, the whole duck incident made my day. I suppose that just means not much happens round here.