why

How often do you see this? 4 am, walking out of your place to take a break, when you step out of the front door, you see a blaze going in the gutter, next to a car's tire. A youth stalking away, a bundle of newspapers in his hands, turns to look at us, then after a pause, turns back to the burning papers, lifts it up, and carries it about 20 feet away, dropping it on the sidewalk as it blazes furiously. Friendly neighborhood pyromaniac roaming the streets, while a chain smoking asian watches in disbelief; guilty pyros move their burning effigies. In the middle of the street, another man, cracked out beyond belief, sways with the breeze. Seeing the flames, he stumbles a few steps toward us, then putters to a stop. Surely it isn't so out of the ordinary to have to bother with locomotion. He lifts his foot, narrowly missing a street rat scuttering across, busy night.

It is terribly hot at night in this old house. There are no windows that can open up to the night breezes, which around 4 in the morning are nice, with less humidity, and thus a crispness that's delightful on the skin. However, around 7, the air begins to warm up, ramping up until too bright sunshine 9, a terrible time while waiting for the imbecile in front of you to change lanes...on the exit lane...when punching your steering wheel makes you sweat just a little more. Thank god for air conditioning, that and the convenience of coffee car cups and commercial free radio beamed down from the heavens. Sure, you are trapped, confined, wrapped up inside a fiberglass shell, while that damned sun beats down on you, the only air unnaturally cold against your damp work shirt. It gets so that you can't breathe.