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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

he, himself, and me

Kids have the day off of school today. It's the anniversary of the Columbine shootings, plus it's pot smoking day, so the district just decided to call it. To my surprise 2/3 of the brood are up and out of bed already.

Speaking of being up and about, recall a while ago when I blogged of my return to early morning outdoor running after the long cold winter. Recall the crazy man I encountered? The crazy man with the duffle bags?

Turned out he was actually a very friendly person just waiting for his carpool. Weeks have passed, and he and I have continued to greet each other on these dark mornings as I pass by in my myopic haze and he and the duffle bags wait on the corner. I don't know his name. I don't know where he goes after the car picks him up, I don't know what's in the duffle bags. I just learned that he is a very cheerful person.

Sometimes.

Sometimes, his greetings are much like that first encounter - very friendly and animated, including a spritied "happy running!" or some such. Other times, not so much. Other times, it seems almost burdensome for him to acknowledge me. Like he's got a split personality or something.

Well... lo and behold! Last week, I finally got a clue. It's not a split personality, it's actually two different guys!

All this time, I've been passing by and greeting this person, receiving mixed greetings in return, and just last week I realized the explanation. Okay, as I mentioned, I don't wear my glasses when I run, PLUS, it's still dark out when I see "him", PLUS, it's pretty chilly that time in the morning. Chilly enough for people waiting for a carpool to be covered in jackets and hats.

Well, it's started to warm up a little and one morning last week, when I passed "Mr. Friendly", he was just wearing a light coat and a baseball cap. Same duffle bags. A couple of days later, I passed "Mr. Disinterested". It was then that I finally noticed that he's a totally different person from Mr. Friendly! Who knew?!

But now I'm really curious. Just who are those guys? Where do they go? WHAT'S IN THE DUFFLE BAGS?? I think I'll ask.

I'll ask Mr. Friendly.
.

8 comments:

Whodat? said...

Two different dudes, eh? The ULTIMATE split personality....

terri said...

You really gotta wonder about someone with multiple duffel bags going off somewhere on a regular basis in a carpool. I mean really! Who needs duffel bags worth of stuff?

You must investigate and report back soon.

Adam said...

Ha! That's awesome. Thank goodness for glasses.

I have a name suggestion for your dynamically-personalitied duo: The Duffel Twins!

Scott said...

Fascinating!

agg79 said...

Maybe they're hauling bodies in the bags. There's always some story behind the scenes but I am sure it is not as interesting as our imagination makes it.

Beej said...

I, on the other hand, think it's probably a very sinister and exciting story and I'm DYING to know what they are up to.

Judy said...

I'm thinking they are EMTs in training and the duffle bags hold "Annie", the CPR dummy and the baby in the other one (can't remember that dummy's name). They're doing their homework and practicing at home!

brandy101 said...

hmm, I'd like to know if the duffle bags are the same? If they are, perhaps they are factory-provided?