Page 122 - NyghtVision Magazine Volume 4 #2

was a completely random interaction, one I never
saw coming and one I am still trying to process.
After all, if it made sense to me, I wouldn’t be pen-
ning this story, now would I?
No, I wouldn’t.
I don’t invite interaction when I am
working out. If you know me at all, you
know I am task driven and goal oriented.
It is no different when I am in the gym. I
am not there to have fun or to engage in so-
cial banter. I am there to work out. Even if I
don’t have my ear buds in, I always seem to
be detached. Inaccessible. Or, as my trainer
said, it is like I am not there.
It isn’t that hard to be detached, after
all. The same glasses that are my window to
the world are also the wall that keeps the
world from intruding. You can say some-
thing to me, but, if you can’t see my eyes,
you can’t possibly know if I have heard you
let alone know if I have seen you. If the
glasses themselves aren’t enough, I often
add a baseball cap. However little my eyes
might be visible with the dark glasses, when
the hat is on, there is nothing. Just dark- “I guess we are destined to follow each oth-
ness.
“Hey, Falcon,” he said. For a moment
I didn’t catch the fact that he was talking to
me. I bent over and moved the pin on the
stack of weights. Just as I was processing
his words, he stepped closer and offered me
his hand. In fact he placed his hand right in
122 | Going Home
front of my face, between me and the stack
of weights. I stood up and looked at him. I
was incredulous. At best what he had done
was a violation of my personal space. At
worst, it was rude.
I gathered myself, let go of the pin,
and stood as straight and tall as I could. I
didn’t say a word.
“Hey, Falcon,” he said, a huge smile
on his thin, pale face, “I guess we are des-
tined to follow the same path.”
That he knew my name wasn’t totally
surprising. It seems a lot of people do. For
no apparent reason. I just pretend I know
them, or remember them, but usually I ha-
ven’t a clue. I couldn’t hear much of what
he was saying given that my ear buds were
in place so I motioned to him to wait a min-
ute. I pulled one ear bud out and let it fall
on my chest. “Hey, Falcon,” he said again,
er around,” he said. I must have looked a
bit quizzical because he followed up quick-
ly, “You used to work out at - what was the
name of that place?”
“Fitness Today?”
“Yeah. And weren’t you across the
street too?”