If You Dare Them...

Well, it happened. I finally got hit in the head by a complete stranger. I was sitting on the bus today on my way to the archive and we stopped for a red light at a street corner where the Sandinistas were rallying for their upcoming municipal elections. I sat by an open window of the bus, and looked out upon what is by now a familiar sight -- hundreds of folks waving the black-and-red flag of the FSLN, singing along to a Spanish language version of "Give Peace A Chance," and distributing bright pink flyers that informed the reader, "You will win with Alexis!"

One guy I guess was having some trouble off-loading his flyers, and as our bus began to pull away from the intersection, he walked up to my window, grabbed a hunk of about 150 of the flyers, and flung them through the open window. I guess he thought they would catch some air and sprinkle down upon the bus passengers like gently fluttering leaves in the autumn, but he was wrong. Stuck together by some heroic electoral glue, the entire stack hit me upside the head, right in the temple. Then it broke apart and scattered all over me. I must have looked like I'd been tarred and feathered in a gay bar with these flamboyantly pink pieces of paper clinging to my hair, my skin, and my clothes. Everywhere around me, other bus passengers tried not to snicker, but when I began to laugh, the proverbial dam broke and we all shared a moment. "Ha ha, they really scared you!" giggled a little girl sitting next to me. "Yes, they did," I replied. "Well," she asked, "do you mind if I keep the flyers? I'm trying to decorate my room." "They're all yours," I replied.