Okay folks, grab some coffee, this one got weird. It all started late last night while I was re-reading that old Alice book to my niece over video chat. You know, after the call, that rabbit bugged me. Seriously bugged me. Why chase it? Dude looked stressed, late for something, maybe? Alice just saw it and boom, down the rabbit hole she goes. Felt kinda… thin. Where did she think it was going? What was really driving her?
So, being me, I figured I’d dig. Started simple, just Google stuff. Typed in “why did Alice chase the rabbit?”. Got flooded with the usual literary analysis junk. “Symbol of curiosity,” “representing the unknown,” blah blah blah. Felt like everyone was just repeating the same safe answers. Wasn’t clicking for me.
Then I remembered – Wonderland isn’t real. Duh. Made me wonder: what if I tried chasing something weird, something unexpected? Needed an analog. No magic rabbits handy, obviously.
Here’s what I did:
- Went down to the big park downtown yesterday afternoon. Tons of people, squirrels, dogs, pigeons.
- Set a clear goal: Find something unusual enough to genuinely make me follow it, just for five minutes. No plans, no destination.
- Walked slowly. Didn’t stare at my phone. Really looked around. Saw the regular park stuff. Felt kinda dumb just wandering.
Then it happened. Near the old duck pond, this guy walks by. Normal looking dude, jeans, hoodie. Thing was, he was carrying a bright green plastic flamingo. Like, a lawn ornament one. Just holding it casually, like you’d hold a briefcase. Heading away from any houses or gardens.
That was it. My weirdness threshold got crossed. Why the flamingo? Where is he taking it? Is this normal for him? Without even really thinking about it, my feet started moving. I kept a bit of distance, tried to look casual like I was just walking the same path.
Followed him for a good three blocks outside the park. He seemed totally oblivious. Turned down a side street, then into the alley behind some old shops.
And then… he just stopped beside a beat-up sedan. Opened the trunk. Carefully placed the flamingo inside amongst a bunch of other random junk – a broken toaster, a bike wheel, half a mannequin leg. Closed the trunk, got in the driver’s side, and drove off.
That was it. No grand revelation. He was just… some dude who collected random discarded stuff? Maybe for art? Maybe he was just a hoarder needing a flamingo fix? I have no idea.
But standing there in that quiet alley, it hit me. I totally got Alice now. It wasn’t about the rabbit. Or the flamingo, in my case. It was about a sudden, sharp break from the mundane. That rabbit was pure, unexplainable weirdness flashing across the ordinary setting of her day. It disrupted the boring pattern. She wasn’t chasing the rabbit to catch it, probably didn’t even think about catching it. She was chasing that feeling of stepping completely outside the normal script. A sudden “whoa, that shouldn’t be here, I gotta see where this leads.” It’s the lure of the inexplicable interruption.
My little flamingo man was an ordinary blip in someone else’s world, but in my predictable park visit? Total anomaly. Following it felt ridiculous in hindsight, yeah, but also freeing. Like falling down the rabbit hole. You just… follow the weird for a minute. See what happens. Makes you look at everything differently for the rest of the day. Try it sometime.
