"Can We Walk With You?"

"Can We Walk With You?"

That was the first thing someone said to me this morning. It was a bit jarring because people are not in the habit of making small talk at 6:15 in the morning.

I was on the way to the bus stop. It was rainy, but fairly warm (mid-50s). While walking up the sidewalk, I passed a man on a bike wearing a slicker who appeared to be adjusting something. I assume it had something to do with his bike. I didn't really pay much attention.

When I crossed to the other side of the road I was approached by two women, apparently out for their morning walk. I had to mute my iPod quickly to understand them.

"(inaudible)"
"Sorry"
"Can we walk with you?"
"uh..."
"See the man on the bike?"

I did. It was the man I had passed a moment ago.

"That man is not wearing clothing under his jacket"

I turned to look again and I noticed that in fact they were correct. This 40-50 year-old man was riding a bike pretty much naked. Once he saw me look straight at him he started peddling very fast. He knew the jig was up at that point.

"That man keep riding by us, show us his privates. If he does it again, we're going to knock him on his ass."

They seemed capable. Once they saw the man was quickly getting the Hell out of there, they decided it was OK to proceed. I told them I would call the police and I did. It took forever to get through, but a guy like that is probably dumb enough to do it again and get caught.

I think I'm going to start carrying a camera to take pictures of these crazies.