Buddhism in the Bathroom

So I was taking a piss in this cramped bar bathroom the other night when this dude walked in and started laughing at the stall next to me. I didn't pay him too much attention, but the dude turned to me and said, "There's a lemon in this urinal."

                I started laughing and asked, "If he feels more refreshed."

                He smiled and replied, "Hell yeah."

                We both started laughing then he turned to me, asking me if I knew anything about "Koan Buddhism."

                I'll be honest, I don't know anything about Buddhism other than reincarnation, so I was curious and replied, saying, "No, what is that?"

                The dude's eyes widened and, with an intense look, asked me, "What sound does a one-hand clap make?"

                Mind you, we're still at the stalls taking a piss, and all I could think about with my one hand was that my dick was in it, and the only sound I heard was my piss hitting the porcelain, so I didn't think too much on it and answered, "I don't know."

                The dude's eyes lit up as the words left my mouth, and very excitedly, he said, "That’s the point. No one knows!”

                I chuckled and could only say, “Okay.”

                The dude's eyes shifted as he asked, “Do you not get it?”

                I shook my head, replying, “No.”

                The dude looked away and took a couple shakes before zipping up his jeans, saying as he walked over to the sink, “The point is there is no point. It’s just a question that makes you think differently.”

                I took a couple shakes, and after finishing zipping up, I met him at the sink, replying, “So it’s just a philosophical question?”

                The guy nodded as he finished washing his hand and began drying them. He looked at me before he pulled the door open and said, “The answers really not meant to matter, but the question is what's important to think about.”

                I smiled and said, “Thanks dude. I'll think about that.”

                The dude grinned, saying, “For sure,” and left me alone in the bathroom to finish cleaning up.

                Later that night, when I was sitting in my booth in the back of the bar, watching the dancing and swaying crowd in front of the stage, I thought of that question. It seemed silly at first, but the more and more I broke down the interaction in my mind, the more interesting it became, so much so that it consumed me. I began to think about everything that was happening at that moment. Everything from the music to the people around me to the cars on the street, all the way to the people in their apartments, to the homes spread out across the valley. I went further to the state as a whole to the country and the country in the world to the planet and its place in space. All this was running through my mind like a rabbit let loose on a dog race track.

                The rabbit took me so far, I hit the blank hole of nothingness that was waiting to consume every inch of reality. Nothing mattered because, in the end, no one knows what's going to happen. We’re all lying to ourselves when we say there’s a point to existence because at some point, our sun is going to blow up, wiping away all evidence of humanity ever existing, so why should we even try.

                I thought this nihilistic thought while I observed the room, and it wasn’t until the pretty girl I had seen early that night walk by. She took a glance, and I met it with a shy smile. She returned the smile and a wave and continued on to meet up with her friends.

                I lingered on that feeling I got from that smile and couldn’t help the smirk from growing on my face. I picked up my beer and camera and walked over to her, forgetting the answer to the question because, in the end, it really didn’t matter. All that mattered was asking the question and going where it might take you.