Last night, I had about two hours to kill before an 8:30 pm meeting. Rather than stroll the streets of Old Town and potentially do serious damage on my credit card, I grabbed an ice tea and watched the people stroll by.
I watched families trek back to their hotel after a day spent touring the sites in downtown DC. I observed groups of friends discuss the best place for dinner that night. I saw girlfriends pissed that their boyfriends refused to ask for directions. I witnessed a little boy have his first frozen slush as his parents stood by giggling at the excitement when he realized his tongue was turning blue.
As I packed up the papers I had been reading in preparation, I was granted the best glimpse into someone else’s life. An elderly couple was returning from their day of sightseeing. It was obvious that this trip was taking its toll on them physically.
The wife was nagging at her husband about getting lost and she had wasted all those steps in trying to find their way back. He paused to lean even more on his cane and told her she was welcome to climb onto his back because he could get her down to at least the end of the block. She stopped, gave him a playful slap on the arm and then proceeded to take his hand in hers to make it the rest of the way together.
I can only hope that will be The Thinker and me down the road.
I watched families trek back to their hotel after a day spent touring the sites in downtown DC. I observed groups of friends discuss the best place for dinner that night. I saw girlfriends pissed that their boyfriends refused to ask for directions. I witnessed a little boy have his first frozen slush as his parents stood by giggling at the excitement when he realized his tongue was turning blue.
As I packed up the papers I had been reading in preparation, I was granted the best glimpse into someone else’s life. An elderly couple was returning from their day of sightseeing. It was obvious that this trip was taking its toll on them physically.
The wife was nagging at her husband about getting lost and she had wasted all those steps in trying to find their way back. He paused to lean even more on his cane and told her she was welcome to climb onto his back because he could get her down to at least the end of the block. She stopped, gave him a playful slap on the arm and then proceeded to take his hand in hers to make it the rest of the way together.
I can only hope that will be The Thinker and me down the road.
0 comments:
Post a Comment