Human Nature and Staring Contests on Foreign Soil...

Last week, my family (present and future) went to the Dominican Republic for vacation and relaxation.

Last Thursday, the whole clan went out in Sea Kayaks to brave the choppy ocean. After my parents were thrown off their kayak by a big wave, I should have gotten a clue. But, while going over the crest of another big wave, I happened to hit my future wife in the face with my paddle. Obviously, it was an accident. Needless to say, I broke her nose. Because of a protein deficiency in her blood, a few extra steps were taken to ensure she didn't continue to bleed (like during our flight home). So, she ended up walking around the resort with gauze up her nostrils for the last 3 days of the vacation. Not so fun for her.

Here's where the staring comes into play....

While walking around with a broken nose, gauze up her nose and a bandage over her stitches, I was surprised at the number of people who would just blatantly stare. I'm talking about turn the head as you walk by type of staring, not just a glance or two. Maybe it was because the clientèle were more European and Latin American and less North American.

So, because I got sick of people staring, I started staring back. I figured this would deter them from continuing their rude tractor beam eyes.

I was wrong.

My staring was very obvious and most of the time, people didn't even notice me looking. Sometimes, they would notice me and then stare right back at me. Only occasionally would someone realize they been caught slippin' and look away in shame.

It was just a broken nose and some bandages. I'm sure everyone has seen a broken nose before. I saw ACOM's nose broken on the rugby field (watched it happen 4 feet in front of me) and it was quite messed up. Reconstructive surgery style breakage...


As a side note, while engaged in a game of volleyball with my future brother in law, someone from the land of Canadia happened to sit down next to me. I had just rotated out (we had 8 people on each team). He wanted to join, even though we were only a few points from the end of the game. After explaining to him that I did not approve of him just jumping right in the game, he said, "You must be from the US." I acknowledged that fact and inquired as to why he asked.

"We don't talk like that in Canada."

Apparently, Canadians aren't direct when they speak and won't tell someone like it is. My response was "The truth is hard sometimes."

Unfortunately, for my bride to be, there will be beauty from pain...