Walker Races

On your mark, get set, GO!  

I find it quite humorous to watch people around me.  I'm an observer and notice little things from shoes being too small or big to a small piece of toilet paper on the bottom of ones shoe.  I have to admit, I even eavesdrop on conversations from neighboring tables when I'm in a restaurant.  For some reason other people's lives interest me.  Awful.  I know it, but it's true. 

This past summer I was headed to the grocery store with my son, Luke.  We wheeled into the parking lot and pulled towards the front of the store.  I was trying to find a parking spot up front so I didn't have to lug my two-year-old in the hot Louisiana sun, down the parking lot aisles, making sure he doesn't try to open every car door on the way to the front of the grocery store. 

Instead of whipping into that VERY close parking space, I had to stop at the pedestrian crossing.  In front of me I watched an elderly lady, around the age of seventy, and a younger man, about fifty-four, both pushing their walkers and seeming out of breath.

Sitting there in my SUV I watched the two of them, the elderly lady in front, the younger man a few steps behind her, make their way to store entryway.  A sudden voice came through my head.  You know, the voice you hear at horse or dog races narrating to you who's in what place.

"Here comes the Bunny!  And they're off!  It's Old Lady in the lead, Fifty-Four right on her heels....." 

I sat there, I know, for a good two to three minutes, which accounts for a great amount of time nowadays, the voice narrating the scene in front of me.  I think I chuckled to myself while in the store several times.  Luckily, I didn't see either one of them. Otherwise I might of drawn eyes and embarrassed myself.   

It might not be good of me to humor myself while watching two disabled individuals try so desperately to get to the grocery store to buy food, but I've wondered if I would laugh at such a thought if I were in their position?  I think I would!  Laughing keeps the heart young!