This evening I came home from and launched SFGate.com as I do throughout the day and noticed a lead story reporting on the passing of The Bushman of San Francisco. His claim to fame is surprising people walking along the sidewalk by hiding behind two blinds he fashioned out of bush branches and leaves.
I had never heard of the guy before, and after hearing his story, feel a bit sad I never crossed his path. But what surprised me was my next thought.
My brain did not hesitate to switch over to YouTube and search for a video of him. It was instantaneous. There was something, or someone as the case may be, that I had never heard of before. And my first reaction was to go looking for a video of his antics; not having the slightest doubt that I would find video footage of The Bushman.
And I found a video of The Bushman. Many actually.
You have to step back a moment to appreciate that. We live in a world that you can immediately watch videos of ordinary people you have never heard of before. We will know and see more of the world’s activity than any civilization preceding us. By several orders of magnitude.
I was also surprised by a reveal at the end of the video. The Bushman makes between $69,000 and $73,000 a year scaring people that walk by him.
That is also astounding. May he rest in peace.