Arrest!

I was about due to witness something exciting at lunch and today it happened. I was eating lunch on the bench by the bus stop outside 77 Mass Ave. when a police car pulled up and the officers ran out to the steps on 77 Mass Ave. I looked over and there were already two officers over there who were patting down a man and holding his arms behind his back. The four officers then proceeded to handcuff him. By this point 3 other pairs of officers pulled up and walked over to the scene. MIT must have a well funded police department in order to send 10 officers to arrest a very subdued man.

Anyway, one of the responding officers was our friend Andy. I was excited because I've only joked around with him and I wanted to see him in his "professional policeman" role. He seemed to walk with a little more confidence and he wasn't smiling like usual, but otherwise he was the same Andy. Andy and his partner responded a bit later so Andy got to put on cute black gloves (probably in case he needed to handle the criminal) and interview one of the two witnesses (or I assume they were witnesses). Both were middle-aged men and one had on a suit while the other was wearing jeans and t-shirt. Our criminal seemed african or from a Caribbean island and his head was shaved.

After being handcuffed he just sat on the stairs and stared straight ahead and didn't move. This may be why the police called an ambulance. In addition to the 10 officers, two paramedics arrived and looked at the man, who still seemed unresponsive and then assisted him into the ambulance. He clearly did not have any bodily injuries so perhaps he was mentally ill? on drugs? or just didn't speak English?

I was considering walking by on the sidewalk to find out more info., but I had brought out a bowl with my lunch and it would have been hard to carry that around. I assume there is a MIT police blog because there are many unanswered questions. What did the criminal do to those two men? Why was he so unresponsive? Why did it take 10 police officers and two paramedics to handle him? Just some of the many questions I will ponder today...

Crazy Looking Running Shoes

Have you seen these yet? Aren't they crazy looking? I saw them for the first time yesterday evening. As I was winding my way through swarms of joggers along the Charles at 7pm yesterday, a girl ran by wearing these. At first I thought she was running in black ballet flats, but as she got closer I noticed they were weird running shoes. Then on my return trip to MIT, a guy ran by in a purple pair. Who knew they were so popular? Apparently they are Vibram's FiveFingers Shoes, which allow you to preform a variety of athletic activities while "barefoot." I don't think I'll be buying a pair anytime soon, but they sure are interesting.

Arts on the Charles

Although not as weird as our other sightings, I had the pleasure of being exposed to the arts while walking on along the Charles earlier this week. On Tuesday I passed by a man painting. He was facing the Boston skyline so I assumed that was what he was painting, however when I walked by and tried to sneak a look it seemed like he was painting a close up of the trees across the river. It doesn't make sense that he would position himself on the other side of the river to do a close-up...perhaps he was going to fill in the buildings later.

On Wednesday I walked by a girl at the MIT sailing pavilion who was assembling her saxophone. Shortly after walking by she started playing some Jazz music. She was gone by the time I returned so I guess she only felt like playing for a few minutes. It seemed like somewhat of an odd location to play, but at least she was good. There's no need to go the Symphony Hall or the MFA, we have it all right in our backyard along the Charles.