Getting the right offer.

Do any of us see ourselves as we are?

Last summer I was working out at a wellness center I go to. A nice gentleman probably 5 to 10 years older than myself. I don't know age is a mysterious thing. I meet people who look older than me who are younger and vice verse

I'm always careful not to age people. It's surprising how many people never catch on. They assume they're younger when I know they aren't. They are so candid with aging me which makes me steam on the inside. Then there are the occasional few who know what I'm up to and want me to come clean.

Well this man, I'll call him Mr. Bopbag, asked me if I could get back up off the floor. My instinct was to yell, "Do you think I would get on the floor in a public place and know I can't get back up?"

The reasonable part of me knows this is a legitimate question. I deliberately sit on the floor and get back up to keep the skill. One time I was sitting on the floor with a group of students and it looked like I was teacher of the year.

The principal walked in. The only problem, it was time to get up. I just started reading from the beginning until he left. As he walked out of the room, I just stopped and got up as did the students. Starting the next lesson I thought about what they had done. I did it because I did not want that man to hear me grunt getting up. Some teacher of the year.

Back to Bopbag, I give him that name because he looks like an inflatable punching bag. He is short with a distended tummy. I wonder if his waist measurement might be larger than his height. A few red marks on his arms and cheeks. He obviously takes blood thinners. We have a nice conversation. I'm in suspended animation, ready to move on to the elliptical machine. Then the statement comes.

He lets me know he has a wife. I wasn't considering proposing. I'm old enough to know what a good catch is. I see that worn sedan he drives. His daughter works in a local grocery store and her jokes at the register do wear thin. Besides, he can't get off the floor and I can.

My 82 year old mother was talking to a 400 pound man in the pool one day. I recognize him. I just don't remember his name from high school. He told my mother he was married. She shared her disgust with me. I wasn't even talking to him in a flirty way, she says. Besides no one can replace Jack (my father).

It's inescapable. People's perceptions be what they may. I know why the meek shall inherit the Earth. They are the only folks who have a clear picture at times.

Ce la vie.