UNSETTLING SIGHTINGS

Today when I was driving home from work I was stopped at a red light. There were about 3 cars in front of me on this double lane highway. I'm sitting there in my car when I noticed this very very low income guy walking with a wagon towing behind him. Inside of that was most likely all of his possessions and his dog. I have seen this guy before with his dog and he is usually about a block farther up. Sitting along the roadside at various points. He never seems to be those ones who are sitting and begging for things. Just sitting off to the side.

Today he was weaving through the cars to cross while we were stopped at the light. There was a big space between me and the car in front of me. He chose to cross in front of me and I realized he'd be walking right by my drivers side. Then I realized my window was down and I started to roll it up and could tell he would see me doing that so I stopped. I didn't want him to see me going out of my way to avoid him.

When he walked by I gave him just a small slight smile. Not one of those toothy smiles, just a slight curve of the lips. He locked eyes with me, not stopping in his tracks and what came out of his mouth next really shocked me. He said "why don't you do me a favor..hit me."

I just sat there. I watched him in my side mirror. He kept walking along the side of the road, against traffic. What he said really bothered me. Was he serious? And of course it made me wonder what got him to this point in his life. What did he used to be like? He spoke well. And of course, spoke to the point. Also I was surprised of what he said because he had a 4 legged friend with him. So I took him as being a caring person, looking after his dog.

I drove the rest of the 3 miles to home, thinking about what had just happened. That very small sentence. He wasn't rude about it. He didn't act like he was joking. He didn't even ask me for money. Does he say that all the time when someones sitting with their window down? Mostly though I go back to what I said above. How did he get in that circumstance and what kind of a person did he used to be. Does he really want to die or did he just do it for shock value. I may never know.