MAYBE TWOUBLE LOOKIN FOR YOU 2

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Pt. 1

I previously wrote a blog which I titled, “Maybe Twouble Looking for You,” (after the line in “The Karate Kid II” in which ‘Daniel’ gets into it with a young guy in Okinawa).

Given some things which have occurred during my bike rides in the wee hours of the morning recently, I thought I would write a second edition of the blog.

Six or eight weeks ago, I was pedaling along a sidewalk on Spirit Lake Road, (I only pedal on sidewalks. The road is far too dangerous for bikers). As I ‘be-bopped’ along, minding my own business, a sheriff’s deputy came up behind me, and threw on his blue lights for a few seconds. (I can tell you, that got my attention).

Stopping my bike in the middle of the sidewalk, “Deputy Jensen” got out of his car, and strolled over to me.

I spoke first.

“What can I do for you, deputy? There’s not a curfew in effect is there?” (Dawn was still hours away).

He responded to my question.

“No. Not at all. But the McDonald’s restaurant over here was robbed this morning. I need to ask you a couple of questions.”

To which I said,

“I’m far too old for something like that. But I can tell you, I just saw something a few minutes ago at the business next to the McDonald’s.”

(and)

“There was a car sitting in the parking lot in front of that building, and a couple of people standing next to it. I know that place has been closed for decades. It used to be a ceramic shop.”

(and)

“I had stopped at the bank across the street for a second to swig some water when I saw them. It may have been my light, but they got in their car, and left immediately.”

The deputy asked for my ID, and I informed him I didn’t carry one with me with I rode my bike. Next, he asked for my name and street address, and indicated that he might want to follow up with me in the next day or two.

I never heard from him again.

Strange. My surname is McDonald. I worked at a McDonald’s hamburger branch in my early 30’s, and now I’m a ‘suspect’ in a robbery at my local McDonald’s.

McDonald seems to be a prominent name in my life and future.

Pt. 2

I was peddling on the same sidewalk, which borders the same street, several days ago, and preparing to round the curve on which my sister-in-law and brother-in-law live. Of course, it was “O Dark City,” as it always is when I climb on my bike and do what I have enjoyed doing for so long.

Suddenly, a car came up from behind me, slowed down, and came to a stop in the middle of the road; approximately fifty feet ahead.

Now, the driver opened the door, stepped out, and yelled something in my direction. Two or three indistinquishable words.

As the man stopped and directed his words towards me, I also stopped… and waited. I have long since discovered certain actions (and sometimes the lack thereof) that have served me well in the middle of the night, amongst “the ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties” which seem to inhabit my local darkness.

I will always wonder what he said.

Pt. 3

Last night, (actually this morning), I was pedaling down the same stretch of sidewalk; though I was a bit north of where I was in the two preceding stories.

As I passed my local Publix supermarket, I noticed a middle-aged man, a woman, and a pit bull cross the street. The woman had just reached the sidewalk with the dog, and the man was just about to step from the road to the sidewalk.

The mid-size canine was obviously pulling against its far too long leash, and began to bark at me. I had an immediate decision to make. Would I turn my bike, and cross the same street in the opposite direction from which they had come? Or would I stay on the sidewalk?

Of course, my concern was that the young lady wouldn’t reign in her dog several feet, and he would summarily bite me (many times) about my ankles, legs and mid section.

I stayed the course and continued to pedal. I was ready for that savage beast, as I was about to go into a “kick you as many times as I can when I pass you” mode.

I passed the barking, slubbering pit bull with two feet to spare. I am convinced that had he had the opportunity, he would have made my leg look like hamburger meat.

I mean, what on earth are sane, thinking individuals doing out there in the middle of the night?

(Pretend I didn’t ask that question).

by William McDonald, PhD