> I was riding the bus to work and there was a very bummy-looking
> individual sitting accross from me who seemed to have been talking
> to himself a bit.
> Although Ive seen him work at UPS, he was dressed like a jobless
> hobo; with very disgustingly old apparel.
>
> He was doing some of the typical dumb bum stuff; hitting on girls,
> talking to himself, drinking from a paper bag, etc. He was laughing
> loudly and turned to ask me if I have a cigarette. I said, "no, I
> don't smoke", which in turn led to him asking me, "how about acid?".
> Before I could answer, he was laughing again, loudly and obnoxiously.
>
> Suddenly his voice calmed and very genuinely and articulately asked
> me where I'm attending college. He somehow correctly assumed I was a
> student, and I told him "Berklee".
> As is the usual case, he mistakenly thought I meant "Berkley", the 2-
> yr college in NJ, which somehow lead to a conversation about goals,
> life, morals, philosophies, etc.
> Typical bum stuff.
>
> He was one of those bums who was too smart for his own good,
> especially considering his young age; 23. He knew this and made it
> clear to me that we should both know the reason for his bummyness:
> he is simply too enlightenend for this world to accept him.
>
> This, I thought, was funny. You see, this guy is a neo-agnostic-
> aethistic-pragmatic-typical-American-retard-that-thinks-they-know-
> everything kinda guy. Everybody knows one of these ppl. They roam
> the earth looking for nothing, thinking that this is the true way to
> be happy. The funny part lies in the false fact that these ppl think
> that they are part of a rare breed. They don't know that there's a
> buzillion confused ppl that think the same way. It's a result of the
> retarded "religious" censoring in schools, the entertainmen
> industry, and in media. Can't say "God" or "Jesus" but we can talk
> all day about Islam and Hinduism cuz it's "foreign" and "exotic".
> These are ppl that call Christians like me "blind and religious"
> because they think I didn't figure out what I want on my own.
>
> They are mistaken.
>
> The bum was trying to tell me that we are designed to search for
> answers and live to stay positive and be happy. The problem with
> this philosophy is that if I really applied this way of life, I
> would please no one but myself. I told him that I disagreed. Living
> purely to be happy is so simple and stupid that it's why ANIMALS do
> it.
>
> I am no animal.
>
> This bum was trying his best to be smart, wise, and open-minded as
> much as he possibly could, with a minor side effect of trying to
> make me look like a bible-in-my-armpit-idiot-Christian. I told him
> that I searched for the "answer" just like everyone else. I looked
> thru every school of thought this planet has to offer, but I saw God
> in everything. You can argue that it has to do with my upbringing,
> which today I can say I am proud of, but feeling God's presence or
> seeing His mercy are too things I can never confuse with
> "upbringing" or "habits".
> I told this bum that I am ready to drop God and tell myself He
> doesn't exist on the day I don't feel Him around me.
>
> Fortunately I have yet to see that happen.