Loose Cannon

Man Asleep on Bench (Photo credit: derajfast)

I'm the kind of person that throws caution to the wind in instances where the opposite is the case. Not to an extreme - I haven't been accomplice to a murder or serious theft or anything; but rather, I've behaved quite complacently in situations that would otherwise rattle my sense of normalcy.

When one of my friends wanted to go out to a late night event with no way of getting back home, I figured we could just take the public bus in the morning and get back that way. When I wanted to do the same a few months later, and the same circumstances were in place, I did exactly the same thing and ended up sleeping on a bench most of the evening.

When I had a job interview way down south and no ride or bus over there, I traveled aboard my 80s touring bicycle down the busway, suit and tie and all. When a less than noble evening affair with my male friend and two attractive females reached a boiling point, I went for it, void of any hesitation.

Sleep on a bench (Photo credit: Matti Mattila)

Sometimes I reflect on this atittude that I have towards new, potentially dangerous, potentially immoral experiences - yet all perfectly legal - and I think to myself whether I'm a loose cannon or not. At least one acquaintance has told me I'm freaking crazy, but I like to think of such an outlook on life not as crazy, but as a way to arrive at the main prerequisite of my future career - journalism.

Because you see, open-mindedness is synonymous with the craft. I figure, if reporters in the industry have to witness and talk about truly disturbing things like hard-working employees getting laid off, innocent people being murdered, and corrupt political regimes ruining the lives of many - I should be able to handle sleeping on a bench in the middle of the night.

Loose Cannon