Right.. the Olympics.. its not what I expected. It is what I expected. It's kind of crazy.

There are a zillion people in town. Streets are blocked off for pedestrian traffic. There are more Canadian flags flapping off plastic poles clamped to car windows, hanging off balconies, draped over shoulders like capes, or waving in the air on 'official Olympic' mittens than I have ever seen in Ottawa on Canada Day. (I've never been to Ottawa on Canada Day, but we're usually a fairly reticent nation, so I'm taking a wild assumption that only a handful of flags flap enthusiastically only on Capitol Hill).

I guess I missed the memo to face paint myself as a maple leaf before I go outside. 

The other night I went downtown to see a concert with a friend of mine. We walked to the Olympic Cauldron and found half the population of the world there as well. Volunteers sat in lifegaurd chairs with megaphones giving the crowd 'directions' to an unobstructed view of the Olympic flame. I don't think anyone was listening. In alot of ways, it was like being in NYC during Halloween. Everyone was just dressed like a hockey player or a flag.

We walked through the streets or rather we surfed on the wave of pedestrian traffic until we got to the theatre. My friend went to go get tickets and I stood there and watched the river of humanity stream past me. Salmon swimming upstream unobstructed. Lemmings in mass migration to the next food source. The metaphors could go on.. ants to a open jar of honey?? But I digress.. the unending torrent of human beings and a severe lack of identification with such a mass of people did my head in and I panicked by a lack of fellowship and sense of myself. I felt like I was being swarmed by thoughts. (ok I smoked 1/2 a joint).

 It was actually really awful and I had to ditch the concert and go home to the surprise of my friend. Tears streaming down my face.. I cabbed home and hid under the covers. The Olympics does not bring me joy or excitement. It brings me dread and feeling overwhelmed. I don't like crowds very much and  I don't like mass humanity. I wonder if it was a good idea to sign up for that flash mob on Saturday. Maybe not.

I know one thing for sure... I'll never smoke pot again.. at least not in a crowd of a zillion people. No.. I don't think I'd do it alone in a park either.