The old man in the red shirt
Photo by SHIRAZ HENRY on Unsplash
It was raining outside. And it had been raining all day.
In the park across the street from my apartment, an old man was running laps.
He’s there every day around 3PM. And every day, he wears a red shirt, black shorts, and black tennis shoes.
I’m used to seeing him. But I had never seen him run before. And it looked kind of like he was in a log rolling competition.
You know, where lumberjacks run on a log on the surface of a lake to see who can stay upright the longest.
Problem was:
This man wasn’t a lumberjack.
It seemed like if the wind blew too hard…
Or the earth rotated too quickly for a split second…
He would tumble to the ground.
So I watched him stumble through the grass and prayed he would stay vertical.
Since it had been raining all day, the grass was practically a slip ’n’ slide at this point.
And with each step, he got more and more wobbly until eventually…
He fell.
Not like a “whoopsy daisy, slipped a little bit” fall. But a full-on, face-first, crashing into the ground fall.
Watching from a third story window, I felt helpless.
I watched him lay on the ground and wondered whether I should go down to help.
But then, slowly, he came to his hands and knees, got up, and started walking down the track again.
At this point, the man had beaten the odds just by virtue of not breaking a fucking hip. But he wasn’t done yet…
After he regained his confidence, he started running again.
He started off solid, but after about 30 feet, he became unsteady again. And with each step, things just got worse…
Until he fell, again, face-first onto the wet grass.
At this point, I was concerned.
Should I call an ambulance?
Is this man okay?
I watched. Hoping for him to get up, but preparing to be fully unsurprised if he didn’t.
And then it happened again.
He slowly came to his hands and knees, stood up, started walking, and then broke out into another run.
What the fuck!
What is wrong with this guy?
But now, instead of going around the track, he was heading for his car. So I felt good about that.
… and then he fell again.
But with dogged consistency, he came to his hands and knees, stood, and walked the rest of the way to his car.
He sat in the driver’s seat while a young couple walked past.
The young guy saw him fall, so he looked in the window and asked “hey are you okay?”
I couldn’t see the old man’s reaction, but I assume he gave a thumbs up or something, because the couple paused for a moment and then kept walking.
It seemed like everything was over. I could finally breathe.
So I started working again.
I expected the old man to catch his breath, regain his composure, and drive straight to the nearest hospital to fix his definitely broken hips.
But about 10 minutes later… the unthinkable happened.
He got out of his car, walked back to the park, and finished his workout.
No more running was involved though, thank God.
Why in the hell was this man so determined?
He had some of the strongest athletic willpower I have ever seen in a human being. Especially coming from a man who is not winning any medals…
Not getting any applause…
And seemingly getting no outward rewards for his efforts.
He still comes to the park just about every day for his workout. And he still runs too…
But I haven’t seen him fall since.
(Knocks on wood)
I have no idea what makes him so determined. But if you start feeling a little run-down this week, remember the old man in the red shirt.
If he can keep going, maybe you can too.
Robert
This was also published as an email to my list. If you want to join…