I had an errand yesterday morning that involved outside--when it's not raining, probably like you, I have no problem with walking from Point A to Point B. Somehow when everything's wet, it's just farther away, I guess.
I needed to get to a building about a ten minute walk away for what proved to be about a three minute conference since one of the people we needed for the meeting, which was the purpose of the walk, wasn't there and no one knew where he was, or when he'd be back. I hate when 'we'll wait a few minutes for the people who are running late' because, you are punishing me for being on time. There's no incentive for the late folks to ever learn how to be punctual, since we always start when they show up.
So no meeting, but a chance to stretch my legs and since I had my knee replaced, I welcome every opportunity to walk around without pain. There are plenty of sidewalks here in Southeastern Connecticut-I've yet to encounter anything wilder than a chipmunk as I wander (I carry a pocket full of peanuts for just such a situation) and while there are reports of coyotes, I guess the peanuts keep them away.
Three minutes from being back at my office, I saw heading towards me another pedestrian and immediately sized him up as a good head taller than I. In my years on the planet I've never been forced off the sidewalk by someone taller (or shorter, for that matter) than I--I am a stranger to the notion of sidewalk hooliganism, but I always mentally map a retreat route just in case. Meanwhile, we approached one another, nodded as we passed (the Nod of Nothingness since no actual eye contact is made and no words are exchanged) and that was when I realized it was I, not he, who was a head taller, at least. For a moment I considered humming a little Randy Newman, but that would've been redundant.
-bill kenny
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