Random Friday exchanges

After work while walking to my car I passed a guy sitting on a bench. He looked discombobulated as he was shaking, having problems focusing on his had coming up to his head, and with the dirty work clothes I assumed he was homeless. I smiled and he did not. He waved as I was starting to look away. He then called out to me with afternoon. I told him it was a beautiful afternoon as I was passing him. He then made some remark about how it was time to run again so I told him keep running. He then made some remark about how that was all he could do. By that point I was walking out of earshot and would not be able to hear much else.

As I walked away from the guy on the bench I begun to wonder about him. Was he homeless? Had he just gotten off some manual labor shift that tired him & caused him to look dirty? Was he on the run from someone or maybe an escapee from a prison or hospital? I did not know and was not bothered by it very much. The more I thought about it the more I realized that not knowing anything about the guy is what made the interaction what it was.

I do hope that whatever that guy is running from was not something vicious or malicious. I hope he is able to find what he is looking for.

The entire exchange reminded me of a coworker named Richard who was an attorney. Richard was insanely funny with a quick wit and great sense of humor. He seemed to be brimming with life and a love for all good pleasures in life. Richard was married to a wonderful woman and an avid college football fan. He was the type of guy who could talk & listen to anyone as well as have a joke for anyone & any situation. He was well liked by everyone in our department.

I had worked with Richard over four years before two odd things happened that should have caught my attention. One day while riding in the elevator I asked Richard what he would do if I did not work for the University and he became very quiet and starred off beyond the elevator doors. He said something along the lines of "I could have used what I know to become a criminal and made millions.". It was so out of character for him and the way he said it shook me so much I had no clue what to say. I almost didn't believe he said it and did not want to follow up the statement with any more questions in case he may reveal other things I had not known about him. Half a year later I was helping him work on a case he was investigating. I pulled data from our online job site for him and was explaining how part of the site worked. When I finished helping him he thanked me mentioning he was in a rush to meet a deadline to file a petition with the court and made reference to it being with in the week. I did not see or talk with Richard every day but from time to time we would chat or see each other in passing. Two weeks later he thanked me for helping him and made mention of needing to get his paperwork filed for the upcoming deadline which he mentioned was in a week or so. Another two weeks later he made similar remarks in passing.

It struck me odd that he would forget the date of deadline & keep pushing it back. Most attorney's I know are sticklers for details and don't miss a single shred of data and handling it accurately. I didn't think about it at the time but maybe he missed the deadline or was making up the date for the deadline each time we spoke. With in a few months Richard was let go for some reason comparable to gross or mass negligence. He was not doing his job to the standards set forth by management.

I use to wonder about Richard and what was going on. Was he a guy who faked his way through his job or was he unable to do the work but was good at fooling people? Either way it finally caught up with him and I have not seen or heard from him since. At times I wondered if Richard running from something? If so what and what happened to him?

In the end I will never know and all I am left with is memories of a couple odd exchanges that revealed more to the man then I knew but left more questions that were never answered. Like the dirty guy on the bench who was running from something. We had an awkward exchange and in the end all I know is he is running from something and I was not going to help him or could not advise him about what to do about it. All I could say was keep running.