The Studio

I have never in my life been the recipient or victim of any random act of anything -- kindness, violence, vandalism. Unless of course you count the times in the grocery store where some dude let's me go in front of him in the check-out line, then proceeds to chat me up, making me wish I had just stood behind him.

At any rate, that all changed last weekend. On Friday night, after catching dinner with Andrea, we decided to make it a blockbuster night. So we went back to her place and rented "Last Samurai". When I left at a little past midnight, I could hardly believe what I saw!! My car had been vandalized!! Out of all the cars in the parking lot, it was the only one that had been hit!! Ok, so vandalized is a bit of a strong word. In actuality, a can of silly string had been emptied on my car, and the canister had been shoved up my exhaust. I don't dare wonder what would have happened had I not looked at my car carefully enough to see that.

Needless to say, I was angry and offended that someone would do such a thing. In the end, it provided the extra motivation to get my car washed, so all was not lost. Still though, I could not fathom why this had happened.

I really don't understand why people engage in random acts of violence or any of the other negative-flavored ones. Random acts of kindness, ok, fine, you feel relatively good about yourself after, but what is the satisfaction that you derive from acting out maliciously towards someone you don't know?? Not that I condone it, but at least when you're malicious towards someone you know and dislike, there's some satisfaction from channeling your anger towards them and causing them some great or small inconvenience. But, when you're acting out against someone random, you don't even know whether or not you'll get a rouse from the stranger. Are there really people out there who are so angry at everyone else, who harbor such hatred, that acting out against anyone is a satisfying target?

I just don't get it, clearly.

People are people so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
So we're different colours
And we're different creeds
And different people have different needs
It's obvious you hate me
Though I've done nothing wrong
I never even met you
So what could I have done
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
People are people so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
Help me understand
Now you're punching and you're kicking
And you're shouting at me
I'm relying on your common decency
So far it hasn't surfaced
But I'm sure it exists
It just takes a while to travel
From your head to your fist
I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand