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On a bike ride...
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.I was pedaling by this guy...
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.I wondered how far he was going with his heavy load. I almost did what I usually do in such instances: keep to myself and move on. But I decided to get over the mental hump that usually renders me silent and hollered over to him, "Where ya headed?" He hollered back in a joking tone, "To hell! I wanna see my ex-wife again." I complimented his wit with a laugh, pedaled on...
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and soon came upon this man...
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.I was curious how he lost his leg. But even coasting on the wind of a fresh mental victory, I couldn't get over the voice inside that told me not to bother him. The voice that warned me not to be a space invader. I passed by him in silence, pedaled on...
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and stopped to ponder this...
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.I moved on and found a gathering of drummers...
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Where I saw this woman enjoying herself as she watched a newly walking toddler bouncing to the beat.
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.The drummers disbanded and I headed back home the way I came.
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I came across the man with the missing leg again. He was off his crutches leaning against the path railing gazing out to sea. I found myself stopping next to him for a wave check.
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.But the truth is I had ulterior motives. The truth is my curiosity was still nagging at me. I quietly watched the waves for a few minutes, then asked, "How's it goin'?". He turned to me, replied, "Alright." in a tone that communicated as politely as possible that he wanted to be alone, and he turned his attention back to the sea. I was struck by an internal lightning bolt and the resulting thunder that followed inside my head was, "I'M SUCH AN ASSHOLE!!!" I ditched all intentions of asking him about his leg, quietly watched a few more waves, then said goodbye and pedaled away ashamed that I allowed my selfish curiosity to interrupt what may have been his one moment of peace in the day, possibly the one moment he was free of thoughts about his loss.
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A mile or so later, a 4-ish year old girl, standing in the sand alongside the path, was making a fun activity out of waving at all the people jogging and riding bikes past her. She waved and smiled at me. I was reminded that sometimes a silent smile and simple wave of the hand is best, that sometimes talking is unnecessary.
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11 comments:
nice cruisy post. thanks for letting us tag along. set a nice introspective tone to start the day.
Life. Thanks.
--pushingtide
great post!
eef
monsterboards.org
You have the gift of self awareness...
nice one RT,
as some talented Kiwi musicians once said:"everywhere you go, you always bring the weather.."
it's a rare event to not bring "ulterior motives" to any personal interaction.
the trick is to observe, without bias,the inner goings on and learn from that.
which I think you did..
thing about the one legged fellow is, he may have been so relieved had you asked.."what happened to your leg"?.
on the other hand, he may have said"fuck off wanker".
just gotta follow the opportunity as presented, and play it by (inner) ear, each and every time.
Rock on RT!
RT awesome! that was such a great read, I love reading what you have to say.
I also wanted to take this time to tell you that ITV's new record is out. you can preview on our website (click my name!) but I will happily send you a free copy for your ears to mingle! Hope all is well RT
Nolan
Turtle, Anon, Eef, Patch, Dr. Robert & Nolan,
Thank you for the sincere feedback. I'm really glad it struck a chord with all of you. I was hesitant to post it, so thanks again for your support of it.
Nice bike ride Brother
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