The next vignette that stuck itself in my mind (S.Prt.111-23)

Okay, so I got a little bitter with Italy in my posts about traveling alone and without TJ. The truth is, solo trips can be quite enlightening because you notice things you normally wouldn't. Instead of focusing on your travel partner, you can openly watch other people. And the things they do can suprise you. In one week in Italy, I observed the following, vignettes recorded only in my mind because they passed too quickly to capture with a camera:

Random Acts of Kindness
A daughter walking her elderly mother patiently to church
A waitress discreetly offering to give a rambunctious young boy a lollipop
A teenager giving a kiss to his girlfriend right before the train doors closed
A mother trying to carry her son's heavy bag even though she already had a suitcase and he was in his 20s

Random Acts of Annoyance
A waiter rolling his eyes at a rowdy table coming in at 20 minutes till close
A man dragging his dog down the street to prevent it from pooping on the sidewalk
A crowd of passengers scrunching their noses at the "fragrance" of a homeless man on a tram

Random Acts of Inappropriateness
A cyclist openly peeing at the busy intersection of two roads and a bike path during rush hour
A man smoking a cigarette as he boarded a bus who then put it out by crushing it with his foot on the bus floor
A woman with a partial bouquet stealing complementary palm fronds from someone's front yard

Random Acts of Inventiveness
A guitarist practicing his finger placement on the train, while his instrument was stored in the overhead bin
A man accessing old town Mantova by swiping a pass through a super-spy "trash can"
A well-trained chocolate lab curled up in the small trunk of a Toyota Yaris hatchback

Random Acts of Affability
A man feeding sparrows pieces of potato chips out of his hand
A dog riding in a boat with three young guys obviously day drinking
A toddler greeting his friend with a back slap like an old man would give

Random Acts of Degustation
A Verona commuter sipping a glass of red wine well before 7 a.m.
A family struggling to enjoy dinner while "I got my T-shirt and my panties on" played in the background
A cook in brightly-patterned pants and Crocs smoking a pipe in front of his restaurant
A man bulging his eyes at the size of a pasta portion

Random Acts of Inexplicability
A stylish man in a red fedora and red sunglasses riding a cruiser bicycle
A homeless man carrying a pet pigeon in a cage
An upset man clearly arguing with a horse