Monday, May 9, 2011

A Homeless Guy Flipped Me Off Today

It was during minute number 7 of my run, just past the Huntington Beach Sport Chalet entrance. Right around 6:12pm (18:12 for all you military timers).

He had just come out from a corner of the lot. Maybe he had just woken up/ been rooting through garbage for food/ stopped to rest for a bit/ decided to move on to the place where he was going to sleep that night...

I turned the corner, and we made eye contact, and he flipped me off. Very matter of fact-ly. Almost like the instinctual wave that we make when we see someone we know across a parking lot.

The thing I'll remember most was how young he looked. Younger than me for sure. Early to mid-20s maybe.

The second thing I'll remember is how he glanced over his shoulder when I continued past him. He was almost... frightened. Like a squirrel who keeps you in his peripheral vision as he eats the potato chips out of the bag you left on your golf cart bench...

The third thing I'll remember is how I thought to myself, "Yeah. It hurts to breathe while you're running because you're out of shape. But at least you get to go home and take a shower after this run. At least you don't have to worry about where you're going to eat or sleep tonight."

Sobering experience. I wish I had a way to capture it more completely with my words...

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