Goin' tharn

My very elegant manager wanted to walk me around the building to show me all of the different entrances employees could use. We almost tripped over a sobbing man, who was sitting right outside the front doors, curled up with his knees against his chest. He reminded me of one of those horrifying Peruvian mummies, the preserved remains of sacrificial victims who were OBVIOUSLY BURIED ALIVE and died in untold pain and fear. Say what you will, Zinn, about how evil the White Man is and how he should forever squirm in guilt about the crimes he perpetrated upon native peoples, there was still some hair raising stuff going on in these native civilizations that we need to remember, ritual human sacrifice being just one of them. There was also plenty of subjugation, slavery, torture and genocide of their own neighboring natives, so one should be wary of romanticizing these people, especially if you're a historian. During my first attempt at reading People’s History when Zinn wrote about the Aztecs and how horrible and treacherous Cortez and the Spaniards were against this beautiful, great civilization all I could think about was if ever there were two Peoples that deserved each other more it was the Spaniards and the Aztecs. What disgusting torture one hadn’t thought of the other one had. No one culture has a monopoly or Lion’s Share on depravity and evil, it’s all humanity that needs to be watched for because the potential for great evil and sadism resides in all of us. Some cultures, namely the Germans and Japanese, need to be watched even more closely.

Anyway, we had to practically step over the sobbing man, who then pulled his sweatshirt hood over his head, because even if he was occupying a space in a very crowded sidewalk he needed his privacy. When we turned around the corner I saw that the side street was deserted except for a deranged homeless man kicking, screaming and beating a tree. I felt that we should have turned around but the side entrance was 5 feet in front of us and my manager said, “I think it’s all right. I think we can make it.” I have a new sympathy for squirrels and other creatures routinely flattened by cars because we both stood there frozen with indecision whether to turn around and head back or go for the door. In the language of the rabbits in Watership Down it's called 'going tharn.'

Right then he spotted us and took a break from his tree battering to scream, “Do you two cunts have something to say? Well, do you? Because I'll take you up to the state hospital where they'll really do something to your forehead!!!" He then reared up like he was going to charge us. I desperately groped for my key to the side entrance and we got in to the sanctuary of the building just in time.