Going Karmental

Hair.  I think the state of one’s hair can be a good indicator of their mental status.  The crazy people I’ve known have all had one thing in common - crazy hair.

One woman I knew had calico cat looking hair.  I can’t even begin to estimate how many different colors were in it and I’m not referring to intentional rainbow stripes or alternative styles.  Her hair had sections of gray, platinum, brown and blond but none of it was in any orderly array.  Her doo was always in shambles and it became clear that her hair was dictating her life.  I don’t know which came first, the hair or the shambles, but the two seemed to be tightly coupled.

My little theory has proven to be pretty accurate as far as I can tell, so when the crazy-haired passenger got on the tram in Amsterdam, I was eager to study the situation.   I find it best to study these situations from AS. FAR. AWAY. as possible.  Maybe it was the wildness in his eyes that alarmed me but his hair certainly wasn’t coming to his sanity defense.  The guy was probably in his 30s and could have been inebriated.   At first he stood in the entrance to the car, but he was so unsteady that he nearly fell out the door a couple of times.  His eyes were scary.  They were icy blue, glassy, and wild.  Avoiding contact with them was my goal for the duration of the trip.  He was sporadically shouting things at the other passengers.  Not knowing Dutch, I could only guess what he was saying.  By the looks of disdain from the passengers, my guess is that he wasn’t reciting Shakespeare.  When a seat in front of us became open, he flopped himself into it.  The girl sitting in the adjoining seat screamed.   I don’t know what scared the girl - his sudden flopping down next to her, his overwhelming stench, or his big crazy hair, but she was a fiesty one and didn’t hold back her feelings about his arrival into her personal space.  She and crazy guy started screaming at each other.  A couple other passengers were also yelling comments at him but I had no idea what the exchange was about.   He appeared to take it all in stride and actually seemed to revel in the attention.

Once crazy guy got off the tram, I felt bad knowing that had I could have prevented this whole scene if I had only offered him my new “switchblade” comb from the plane ride.