A Morning Run

I was running on Broad Street around 8:00am, Saturday morning.  The road was quiet.  I felt someone on my left side, so I glanced over my shoulder.  There was a man on a bicycle.  This was nothing unusual, until I noticed his clothing:  light brown plaid pajamas (matching top and bottom); thick, gray wool socks; sandals.  His head was shaved.

"You're in your pajamas!" I blurted out.  My first thought was that he must have been in an awful hurry to get out for a morning bike ride.  My second thought was that maybe it was not such a good idea to talk with this person.  After all, a grown man riding a bike in his pajamas might have serious issues.

Without missing a beat, he looked at me and asked, "Did you see a garbage truck go past?"

Now, I saw that his left hand gripped the handlebar and a bag of garbage.  It was a medium sized bag of garbage-- a brown paper bag inside of a plastic bag.  I also saw the vein that bulged on the side of his head.  "No, I didn't."

"It was just 8:01 and I missed the truck.  I can't believe it."  He focused on the road before him, almost willing the truck to appear.

"Well, if you ride up to Shop Rite, you can put the garbage in one of their bins.  You're almost there, anyway," I offered.

He hesitated, turned his head to the right to look at me, replied, "That's not a bad idea", and he pedaled away.  

I continued on my run and felt oddly better about myself.