Clowning Around in Milan
Lauren and I spent most of the day near the Duomo in Milan. Just before sitting down for a nice lunch, we happened across a huge group of people gathered around and watching a clown entertain all of the kids. Armed with his roller skates, and without saying a word, he played a game of “Simon Says” with a group of kids, and then afterwards gathered them all around. At this point, I’m sure he said something, because all of their faces changed. Nervous excitement. Then suddenly he took off after one of them.
Like a lion singling a sole target from the herd, he skated after the screaming kid, the others scattering out of his way. As he caught each of the kids, he’d pick them up, and skate them back over to their parents. One kid, after witnessing his brother capture and upside-down skate back to his parents gave up and ran back to the safety of his family. The others didn’t give up so easily and put up quite the fight. One kid, perhaps trained by the Iraqi media, took off his shoe and threw it at the clown as he approached.
Looking at photos of this guy, my Mom commented that he looked like a former high powered business executive who finally had enough of the rat race, and now spends his days skating around with his red nose entertaining children. I like to believe her little theory. Maybe there’s a carefree future out there for all of us. In the meantime… it’s back to work tomorrow, but it’s good to have Lauren here, and I’m sure she will enjoy exploring Milan until I’m finished working.
- Michael Dogan