PDA

I normally try to recount events from my walk TO work, not FROM it. Sometimes, though, I just can’t help myself. On the way home from work today, I walked a quarter of a block—down one of the busiest streets in town—in an embrace with another man! I didn’t initiate it, mind you…I was just following his lead. His arm was across by shoulders & mine was across his. This “other man” is one of those guys who literally couldn’t care less what others think of him or whether someone’s staring or whatever. It’s just the way he’s wired, but not me. His fearlessness rubbed off on me a little while we walked. At one point I almost thought, “So what if someone drives by and sees us.” That thought quickly faded when a couple of guys (blue collar types) pulled up in their work truck at the corner we were approaching. They hardly noticed us, if at all. Whew.

At the corner, my friend had to continue straight ahead and I had to “hang a ralphie.” That’s when our hug-on-the-go ended. Two seconds later an older couple in a truck pulled up and asked if I knew how to get to Mifflin (a small town about 20 minutes away). I said, “Uh, let me see. Um, I sure do.” I gave them some directions but mustn’t have been convincing. I’d been talking through the window with the woman. The man (behind the wheel) was obviously not going to put his trust in someone who paused so long before getting on with it. He basically said to his wife, “Let’s go up here to Main Street and see what we can find out.” What’s wrong with that, you say? Main Street was in the exact opposite direction I suggested they go. Oh, well.