During my morning and evening commute, I see the same old man sitting on the same bench every day. He has a Big Lebowski dude / Mr. Miyagi vibe. In the morning he’s reading the local newspaper, listening to a portable FM radio and smoking a cigarette that he rolled himself. In the evenings he’s normally holding court, talking to someone on their smoke break. People are attracted to him.

Now and then we acknowledge each other as I scurry past on my way in and out of the office. I think he’s from another planet. When the shit hits the fan, imagine something like Big Trouble in Little China, he’s going to transform into a powerful being and his bench will be a gateway to another dimension. Maybe he’s here to save the world.

When we have eye contact, I think he knows that I know that he knows. For now, he’s just hanging out on the bench.

Photo by Matheus Farias on Unsplash