Every day on my way to and from work I see this same guy running down the sidewalk through town. He keeps me entertained because he practices punches while he runs. The first time I saw him I thought maybe he was doing that to let everyone know not to mess with him. You know, like how some people who walk for exercise carry a stick with them to beat off dogs or people who don’t like people who walk. Maybe this guy decided, “I’ll just swing my arms around like this and everyone will be too afraid of my flying fists to get near me!”
Finally I decided he must just be exercising and decided that punching and running was more fun than just running. He runs sideways and punches toward the cars driving by. He runs backwards and punches at tree limbs. He runs facing forward and throws a few left hooks.
The thing is that he wears the same thing each time he does this, twice a day, every day. He was wearing it again yesterday afternoon when I saw him. A full gray sweatsuit with the long sleeves pulled all the way to his wrists. A T-shirt underneath with the end hanging out from under his sweatshirt. Knee socks pulled up over the ends of his sweatpants. Sneakers. Black gloves. And a black knitted hat pulled down over his ears.
IT WAS 84 DEGREES YESTERDAY.
Isn’t running supposed to make you feel hotter than you would if you were sitting still? How does he wear all of that in that heat and sun and not pass out in the middle of a punch?
One of the towns nearby has a guy who breakdances to a huge 80s style boombox on the same street corner each week. We’ve got our very own boxer who doesn’t believe in spring and summer.