Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Gotta Love the Package Man

Earlier today I was out running errands with my son, Simon. I usually try to come up with a few things I can do at once, so I'm not making a trip for just one thing. It's beautiful today - 70+ and sunny - so I tried to make the most of the lovely day. I carried him in his sling, as usual, and I typically park just once. In this case, I parked centrally in the sprawling parking lot near Albertson's, Movie Gallery, and Beall's Department Store. I walked to Albertson's without a hitch, but as I passed by my car to drop off my Liquid PlumR en route to my next stop, a UPS driver almost hit me.

Well, not exactly. But he drove diagonally across a line of vacant parking places, accelerated slightly and then hit the brakes before jumping into the legitimate driving lane (which is also a legitimate pedestrian lane, where I happened to be) between rows of cars. As he braked, he waved at me. What does this mean? "Hello, I'm going to run you over now?" "I see you and I'm bigger than you?" I know it was an acknowledgement that he was, in fact, NOT going to hit me, but it seemed like a peculiar gesture.

I kind of felt like a small animal being waved at by a hunter. "I'm choosing to let you live..."

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