The cat looked hungry. It was out of food.

I was driving slowly down a quiet residential side street earlier this evening and saw someone about a block down cross in front of me to get to his parked car. They were on the other side, yet they waited for me to pass before opening the door. Both my windows were down, and right as I passed him, he ripped quite an impressive fart. There's no way he didn't hear me laughing before he got into his car.

Not that my story has anything to do with anything, except that lately it seems I've been a coincidental witness to some strange things. It's like I somehow turn invisible at the exact moment someone decides to pick their nose, one of those blatant deep digs typically done in private. But no, I get to share in the glory of random sightings that have yet to leave deep emotional scars, but they do leave me wondering: is this just happening to me, or is this widespread, signifying that people are generally becoming ruder?

I live in a relatively small community--a university town with a population that fluctuates at the beginning and end of the school year--so it's not like I'm in L.A. or Manhattan where a guy in a thong and superhero cape rollerblading past would be part of the daily landscape. Besides, someone like that is most likely looking for the attention anyway, whereas the people I'm talking about are doing or discussing things that feel completely unscripted, completely unintentional.

I'm almost ready to accuse myself of being too cynical here, but I have this gut feeling that people are becoming less aware of what's private and what isn't, forcing unwilling spectators to take on the role of audience members in their own personal reality program.

Yeah, I do sound pretty cynical. I also hope I'm wrong.