Bird Watching

     Eleven thousand people poured out of a stadium. Traffic clogged the roads. A campaign rally with President Obama was over.
     A contingent of Mitt Romney supporters held signs toward the exodus of cars. Most of the Obama backers smiled. Some countered with their own campaign signs. Others pointed thumbs down.
     But not everyone in the cars reacted with civility. A few people flipped birds and launched F bombs at the Romney crew.
     I wanted to photograph middle fingers juxtaposed against Romney signs. For compositional reasons I stood on a chair. A camera rested in my hands.
     No middle fingers stabbed the air.
     After a spell I stepped down on the pavement. One of the Romney backers indicated that a middle finger was being wagged. I raised the camera too late. The moment passed. 
    I got back on the chair. Nothing happened. I got off the chair. More obscene gestures happened when I wasn't looking.
     My camera never captured a middle finger in the act. But the incident did offer an insight into human nature. When I--or better said, my camera--was in view, the middle fingers chilled out. This lull in one finger salutes hints that people who hurl obscenities know their behavior is wrong. They do possess a capacity for shame.