Hubris

If you were to look up the word "hubris" in the Encyclopedia Brittanica, no doubt you'd find a picture of me crushed under a christmas tree.

So there I was, strutting along the city streets with my arms full off carefully selected christmas presents, feeling incredibly smug at how beautifully organised my shopping spree was. Common sense was telling me to return to my flat, offload my cargo and only then return to the market to pick out a christmas tree.

But no. Pew's feet decided to take her straight to the market. And of course, there it was. The perfect tree.

Now, I must have been on all kinds of high, because I am looking at the damn thing right now and it's far from exciting, but in the frosty morning light, it looked b-e-a-utiful. Somehow, I managed to convince myself that: (A) I could easily stuff the shedload of prezzies in my teenie tiny daypack and (B) that it was perfectly reasonable to assume that my "bulging" muscles could carry this "one-inch-short-from-gulliver" green monstrosity all the way back to my flat on my lonesome.

I managed to carry it a whole 50 meters before my arms and legs buckled under its weight. Slightly embarassed, I decided to reorganise myself, looked at the damn thing from all angles, trying all those very usefull formulas my physics degree surely should've taught me, and ended up lifting it the exact same way I had before, only to collapse 25 meters onward.

By this time, people around me had dropped all pretense of politeness and openly laughed at my expense. Thinking I couldn't possibly give in now, I grabbed it by it's top-branch, and decided to DRAG it all the way to my flat. Would've worked nicely, if it weren't for the fact that I'd decided to buy a LIVE tree, its roots beautifully encased in a bucket of manure. The dragging tore the bucket apart and HUGE clots of manure were now spread all over my hoodie and jeans.

And this is where I finally started to panic. Could I get arrested for abandoning a recently purchased christmas tree in the middle of the city center, just cuz I'd changed my mind? People were literally staring at me. I must have been the joke of the day, cuz they were all waiting for my next move. Except I did nothing.

I dug up my mobile, rang everyone in my phonebook till I found someone who happened to be nearby and waited till they came to my rescue.

Impulsiveness always was my best and worst vice.