What is it about being on a beach that makes people act differently than they otherwise would? For example, you never see your neighbor suddenly run out the back door and begin digging holes in his yard. Yet, at the beach, people will begin large-scale excavation projects. Building a sand castle is one thing, but the vast majority of beach-goers are content with building a sand pile and not a very stable or functional sand pile at that. They work furiously at digging a hole for no apparent reason and then just as suddenly as they started, they stop, sit, and fall asleep in their chairs.
You can tell someone who has worn himself out on the end of his plastic shovels: He is the guy with his head draped over the back of his beach chair, a tee-shirt over his eyes, his mouth hanging open and his belly hanging out. You never see your neighbor sleeping in his back yard in such a fashion and for good reason: He would be too embarrassed to be seen this way. In his back yard. For some reason, however, this is perfectly acceptable beach behavior and folks don't mind if thousands of other people see them in such a state.
What's acceptable on the beach as opposed to the back yard can be confusing, but then apparently, I'm easily confused. A young lady came running up to Martha and me on the beach. She was perhaps 24 or 25, green eyes, dark hair, a few freckles on her cheeks above a sparkling smile. "Scopes" was written across the rear of her cute little red shorts and her black midriff top contrasted in an interesting way with her bronzed skin. Not that I really noticed her or anything. Anyway, she asked us if "We would like a picture?" I was about to say "Absolutely!" when Martha said "No." After she left, Martha explained to me that this girl wanted to take a picture of us. That is a different thing altogether. I thought she was going to give me a picture of herself. It was an honest mistake.
Thanks for making me laugh, Austin. :) JLL
Posted by: JohnLL | August 30, 2010 at 10:00 PM