Helicopter maneuvers

Today as I was walking past the MIT rowing pavilion I noticed a helicopter flying low over the Charles. I've see low-flying 'copters there before so I was not too surprised, but then as I approached the Harvard Bridge I noticed the police had closed it to pedestrian and car traffic. The helicopter circled three times from the rowing pavilion to the bridge and back and then took off, though I could still hear it nearby. The police then let the people and cars cross, but as I got to the intersection two officers took up posts on the sidewalk on either side of the bridge. No one was walking there at the time so I couldn't tell if pedestrian traffic was prohibited again. It seemed like if they hadn't already shut down the sidewalk they were going to do so soon.

The thing about our lunchtime observations is that we very rarely are able to find out why something happens. Instead we witness strange events that leave us confused. I'm assuming the helicopter maneuvers were planned since the state police seemed to be timing everything, but I have no idea why the 'copter was flying like that. Was it looking for something or someone? Inspecting the bridge? Practicing for an emergency? I suppose I could have asked the officers, however I would have felt weird, especially because I wasn't planning to cross the bridge so the sidewalk closure was of no relevance to me. This will have to be another one of those strange events we ponder for the rest of our lives. Or at least the rest of the day.

John Hancock is amazing

Now that the weather is getting a little colder there aren't as many walkers out during lunchtime, and thus fewer unusual events, however I did happen to have a funny conversation about two weeks ago. I was walking on the outcropping part of Memorial Drive and a foreign man stopped me and pointed to the John Hancock tower and asked if I knew what it was. I told him it was the John Hancock tower. He asked what that was so I said they were a financial company, like a bank. He just stared at me and didn't really react, which was disappointing so then I said, "John Hancock was one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence."

That got him very excited. His face brightened and he exclaimed, "John Hancock was one of the signers of the Declaration of the United States of America? That's amazing!" He was being serious too, not sarcastic. He then asked me if it was the tallest building and I explained that it was a little taller than the Pru. He said something again about it being the tallest building so I mentioned that it was just the tallest in Boston. I didn't want him thinking that it was the tallest in the U.S. or anything like that. He made a final comment about not being able to take a good picture due to the bright sunlight and then I walked away, not wanting to spend my whole lunch discussing Boston history.

After the conversation I was very curious as to why John Hancock fascinated him so much. I thought of a few things...was it because...
a) he loves American history and was excited that so much of it took place in Boston
b) he was confused and thought the tower was named after John Hancock, not a financial company
c) he found it amusing that a financial company was named after John Hancock
d) he thought John Hancock actually resided in the tower and was amazed that he was alive after all these year

Take your best guess...I still haven't figured it out!