Week 6: Poison ivy, insults, and nice people (May 20, 2001)

It's been a rough week for The Fool. The poison ivy on his feet got pretty bad, and so Mark stayed in a motel in Norwalk, OH, for 3 days starting on Monday of the past week, to let his feet get better. Then he headed out. Unfortunately this wasn't enough healing time, and so the walking that he did over the next few days made things get pretty nasty. He is now going to take another two or three days off in Bowling Green to let his feet REALLY heal.

THE UNKINDNESS OF STRANGERS The Fool has found that most of the people who insult him are teenagers, but due to watching too much TV, their insults are usually not very clever. In fact, mostly they just yell something like "Duuuuhh!!" or "Hooooooo-bluh!" instead of actual insults. This week, due to the bad mood brought on by the poison ivy and whatnot, Mark found himself firing back his first 'return' insult of the entire trip, at a 12 year old on a bike who yelled at him to get off the road. This made The Fool feel simultaneously happy and pathetic. Click and highlight between the question marks with your mouse to read what Mark's response was. ?? "Do me a favor and suck my dick." ??

BACK TO KINDNESS

* In Helena , OH, Mark was passing through a residential neighborhood, when a guy yelled from his front door, "Hey - I drove past you today! Want a pop?" Mark accepted a much appreciated glass of water from the guy, and talked to him for a while. (Pop isn't really that good for hydration.)

* Mark got to the public library in Freemont, OH, about an hour and a half before closing time. After filling out the paperwork for a temporary library card (so he could use the computer to check his e-mail and guestbook) he didn't have that much time. When the guy came around to tell Mark to log-off, Mark blurted out, "But I'm walking across America, and I'm trying to check my e-mail!" The guy generously gave Mark 5 extra minutes!

* Mark got a shout-out from a local radio station, after he called up and talked to the DJ. He also got a couple of shot-outs from a college radio station back in PA or NJ that he forgot to mention earlier.

RANDOM ITEMS

* Raccoons can sound a LOT like people walking around outside your tent in the middle of the night.

* Traffic, and cars in general, SUCK.

* Mark's pack makes a lot of noise while he's in motion. Some days a new noise will start up, and it takes him while to figure out what is making it.

* Mark has been stopped by a cop in every state so far. At first they are a bit suspicious, but once they find out he's walking across America, they are amazed. They have not let him make their siren go, or try on their hats, though.

POISON IVY REPORT (WARNING - If you are squeamish don't read this part) The poison ivy was really nasty. Mark had blisters the size of quarters on the bottoms of his feet, and then it spread to between his toes. When he finally got to Bowling Green on Saturday, a blister on his pinky toe had popped and was bleeding. He's very serious about letting it really heal this time.