excuse me…

This blahg post is purely to remember/share the randomness/beauty of yesterday.

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I’ve been riding my dad’s old Schwinn Varsity around.  It’s an emerald green ten-speed and I LOVE it.  My dad loves it too.  He talks about how dear it is to his heart and how if I don’t lock it up and it gets stolen, I will more than likely be disowned.

Yesterday, I rolled up to a café to have some brunch and eat outside.  When I went to go sit out on the deck, an old, white-haired man spoke to me…

– Excuse me… Is that your green Schwinn Varsity out there?

– Oh, yeah.

– Wow.  When I was a little boy, I wanted that bike SO badly.  It was THE bike.

– Awww… Yeah, it was my dad’s, a gift from his mother when he graduated high school.  He treasures it.

– Your father was a lucky kid.  That was a $70 bike and we were not a $70 bike family.  I was obsessed with getting one, though.  I saved and saved.  It took me an eternity to save $30.  When I told my mom that I had saved $30, I hoped maybe she’d be proud and help me out with the rest.  But, instead, she told me, “Well, now you can buy a $30 bike.”  I never got a Schwinn Varsity.

My goodness, I almost cried.  I almost just said, “You can have mine!  No, go for it… Take it!  You should have it.”  [don’t worry, pops, i didn’t.]

Instead we eventually dismissed ourselves from the conversation and went about eating respective brunches.  A bit later, I saw him get up to leave.  He walked away with a limp of dusty volumes and a cane I hadn’t noticed before.  He paused as he walked past my bike and gave it a good, long look of admiration before leaving it.

I cried.  Wow.  I cried.

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We had a bike-in movie last night to support KHOL, the radio station I volunteer with.  I went out to help set up for the event in any way I could.

The venue was a local hiking mountain that gets plenty of use by all kinds of walks.

When I arrived to help, I was immediately put on dooty duty… which was totally fine.  I walked around and picked up dog shit that I’m sure pup owners just forgot to pick up.  I was walking back and forth when all the sudden I heard…

– Excuse me, miss.

– Yes?

– I just wanted to tell you that you are God’s gift to humanity.

– Ummmm…. Thank you?

– Not many people would be out here doing what you’re doing with a smile on their face.

[am i smiling?]

– Ha, well, just trying to help out.

– Someone should marry you right now.

– Ohp, okay… I gotta get back to poo.

– Hell, if I found someone half as great as you, I’d propose right now.

And that’s when I got so uncomfortable I just turned around and half mumbled, half replied…

– Okay, now I feel too awkward, bye, thank you, have a good hike, bye, eeeerrr…

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Again, with the bike.  I was walking my bike on a sidewalk yesterday when a family passed.

A little girl, probably about five years old, stopped as we passed each other.  Her family kept on walking, but she stopped in her tracks and asked me…

– Do you have a flat tire?

– Oh, I don’t know… Do I?

Looking at the bike in oh-no surprise, I was pleased to find no flat.  So, I asked her…

– Do you think I have a flat tire?

She evaluated, looked up and down, then said, with authority…

– No, I don’t.

…and turned on a dime and walked quickly to catch up with her family.

– Okay, cool.

And I continued my direction.

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‘Twas a glorious day of stranger interaction.  I love it.