Olympic Torch Chasing

San Francisco has invented a new Olympic event: Torch Chasing.

My plan for the day was to do laundry. I didn't pay much attention to the three helicopters and sirens, thinking the torch was on the other side of the hill. A call from my ex-girlfriend alerted me that the torch was headed into my neighborhood. Driven off course by protestors, the torch was meandering through the city trying to look dignified while being chased by helicopter gnats in the sky and army ant squadrons of protestors on the ground.

OK, I've got a load of laundry going, I'll walk to the corner and take a peek. I saw five police cars, a media vehicle bristling with microphone booms, and there, up on the hill, a crowd of people proceeding westward, with a number of Tibetan flags and banners waving. Ah, the procession. I began following the crowd, realizing I had joined the new impromptu Olympic event.

I walked far enough to see a herd of flashing emergency vehicles off in the distance, with the helicopters hovering above, and an ABC camera crew to my left. Never saw the torch. I thought I should alert the media that San Francisco had invented a new Olympic event: Torch Chasing. The camera-ready blonde didn't seem impressed, but she replied matter-of-factly, "Exactly."