Weekly Walk
The man skating through life
I met an interesting man on my walk today.
I find it interesting that I caught a glimpse of him right outside my gate.
The same place where I met the other gentleman.
Is there some sort of field of attraction around there?
If I stand there long enough, who else will I meet?
Anyway, this man did not approach me. Even though I know I said I met an interesting man. The meeting came later.
He skated away on brightly colored roller skates that glinted in the dark.
“That’s so cool”
I thought to myself.
What wasn’t cool about a man doing what he liked?
He rolled off in his direction; and I went off in mine.
That day I had a tiny microphone gifted to me by a friend.
I was excited to try it out like the influencers did, clipping tiny microphones onto forks and hangers. I sometimes looked out for the most outrageous thing I’ve seen them clip a microphone to. One day I saw one on a spatula.
Scandalous.
It was quite windy that night, and as I walked, I spoke into the microphone.
Talking about this and that just to ascertain its usefulness
After a few minutes, I got to the point where I would pivot and then go around a building when I spotted him again. The roller skating man.
“Do I approach him?”
“Would that be weird?”
Get Phoebe Nortey’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Perhaps.
Every time I tell this story, people’s eyes go wide with surprise when I tell them that I did approach the man
“Why did you do that, Phoebe?”
“I wanted to talk to him”
“What if he kidnapped you?”
“well, he didn’t”
If he did , I wouldn’t be here typing this second story.
Back to the matter at hand
I’m not exactly sure what I said to him, but something along the lines of
“Your roller skates are cool”
“Oh you’re a content creator?”
Was I?
Was it because I was holding the microphone?
I didn’t even have a hanger to clip it onto.
we had a conversation of about 30 minutes, talking about dreams and what it took to get them running. Or in his case, skating.
We talked about what it took to do something people thought was “odd”.
We talked about sports and I tried to tell him roller skating was like walking with wheels, so he and I weren't much different, but he wouldn’t entertain my explanation.
In between lecturing me on why I needed to go back to swimming ( I definitely won’t win an Olympic medal but I can survive if it comes down to it. I hope) we experienced a power outage; the only light came from his roller skates and my phone screen. He allowed me to take videos of him, not to post but just so I could remind myself that sometimes doing the weird thing you like is what makes living worthwhile.
Unless it’s murder or something. Big no to that.
I left him to his practice, and he left me to my leisurely walk. I rounded the building I wanted to and then started the journey back home. He was still doing spins around the open space.
As I walked back home, I wondered who I’d meet on my next walk.
