I was one of the very first viewers, not of the race itself, which is of no interest to me, but of the viewers.
These policeman were of the level that are assigned to stand at 10-meter intervals to keep order within and people without. Still early, they were yet bored, and thus still interested to look and comment among themselves at my appearance (whether my bearded face; bare, well-toned jogging legs; both or other...). I came to observe them; they were clearly observing me. Their faces were those that can be expected of such policeman. Obedient. Rather simple, though not stupid, looking. A couple of them had found some girly magazine, and were sharing it amongst themselves...
I thought of what experience and view of the world they had to obediently spend some perhaps 5-7 hours at a fence... joking amongst themselves at me... having a chance to see cars and trucks speeding around the former 1980 Olympic bike track. What will they learn before they die, from "how they are" now? And I thought of the many who learn little after their teens, some even listening to the same music for their "three score and ten".
The crowd that came and stayed to watch were those one would expect at such an event. Their faces matched the event they were watching.
I thought of Goethe speaking to Eckermann about how if he continued to work and learn even onto his death, nature would provide a way for him to continue. September 1, 1829: "I do not doubt our continuance, for nature cannot do without continuity; but we are not all immortal in the same way, and in order to manifest himself as a great entelechy, a man must first be one."
In Goethe's well-known talk with Falk on their return from the funeral of Wieland in 1813, Goethe described "monads", in ways that explain the faces I saw today.
"How much or how little of a personality deserves to be
preserved, is another question, and an affair which we must leave to God. At
present I will only say this: I assume different classes and degrees of
ultimate aboriginal elements of all beings which are, as it were, the initial
points of all phenomena in nature. I might call them souls because from them
the animation of the whole proceeds. Perhaps I had better call them monads. Let
me retain this term of Leibnitz, because it expresses the simplicity of these
simplest beings and there might be no better name. Some of these monads or
initial points, experience teaches, are so small and so insignificant that they
are fit only for a subordinate service and existence. Others however are quite
strong and powerful…"
Stephen, how true. I often wonder what life is like for such people. What is their answer to the ultimate question, "What do you live for?"
ReplyDeleteI was watching the film "Henry's Crime" the other day, where this toll collector on a highway in Buffalo seems to be sleepwalking his way through life. He finds his purpose when he goes to jail. What does it take for these people to wake up? Aren't they bored with themselves?