Blog #3

Otto woke up uncomfortably cold, under his one thin sheet and his German Shepard, Bruno, curled up by his feet. The old Otto would have been very irritated and angered by the discomfort the cold weather caused. However, after Otto had been enlightened from the whole robbery incident the other day, he was a new man. So Otto simply yawned, got out of bed to get some warmer clothes on, and looked over at Bruno as he raised his head off the bed. “Getting cold again isn't it Bruno”, Otto said as Bruno cocked his head to the side and raised his ears trying to understand what his master's voice was saying. Otto giggled and walked towards the kitchen to pour himself a bowl of Captain Crunch. On his way he flipped on the radio in his living room. The song playing was Mr. Blue Sky by E.L.O. Otto began singing along. The positive upbeat song put him in an even better mood, Otto was feeling better than ever. That one moment of genuine happiness and contentment he felt the other day, as he regained his stolen belongings, had made Otto realize how much he preferred to feel happy rather than pissed-off.
Otto had been in a constant bad mood for so long, he had forgotten how good it felt to be happy. “Oh Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why, you had to hide away for so long, where did we go wrong”, Otto sang pleasantly as he walked out the door. Otto had the immense urge just to talk with someone, and try to make a good human connection with another person. So Otto just spontaneously started walking westbound on Poplar Street with no destination in mind. As he walked by a broke down bus he noticed a very angry women screaming obscenities and a depressed looking bus driver calmly smoking a cigarette. The women reminded Otto of his old self and how he used to treat people. It put a damper on Otto's good mood, he felt terrible when he thought about how he used to act towards people.

So Otto pulled a U-turn and started heading back the way he came. As Otto passed people on the street he smiled, waved, and occasionally gave a friendly “Hey, how are you?” Some people responded in a friendly manner but others gave him funny looks and ignored him. He figured those people were the ones he had treated badly before. He had built up somewhat of a mean, hard ass reputation over the years he had lived in this town. He began to wonder if he could he even make a genuine connection with someone after the reputation he had made for himself in this town.

Otto saw that Casa d'Waffels was full of people this morning so he decided to walk in and order a cup of coffee. It was past 7:15 so Otto didn't get the free waffle. He tried not to get angry when he found out he missed the deal by 4 minutes. Meanwhile, as he sat at the counter sipping his coffee he started to think about how much of jerk he had been most of his life and where it had gotten him. All of the sudden Otto dully mumbled, “Uhh, I wish I could just completely start my life over.”, out loud without noticing it. “Now why is that?”, said an old bald Asian man with a long white beard sitting next to him. “Oh I don't know, I'm just realizing what an asshole I've been my whole life.” “Well congratulations, that's the first step to becoming the person you want to be, you should look at it in a positive way.” “Hmm, I never thought about it that way, I supposed you're right”, Otto said, becoming interested in the man. “To wish for something that you know you can't have, like being able to start life over, is just unhealthy for the mind. Why bother dwelling on the past, when all it does is bring feelings of resentment? We must focus on our current situation and how we will move forward from there.”

Amazed and very grateful for having sat next to this man Otto simply asked, “Who are you?” “Just another human being like you, I like to think of myself as a more awakened and aware being though.”, replied the old man. Fascinated, Otto continued to seek guidance and wisdom from the man and the man proceeded to give it. Otto had found precisely the kind of connection he had been looking for.