the vibe

A weird run today. After spending a day indoors yesterday--completely worn out and fighting a bug--I ran the long route today, a brisk, windy morning. At Starbucks, a cluster of cars trying to get into the drive-thru, and an empty parking lot. I ran into the street, dodging the ginormous SUV blocking the sidewalk. The panhandler who's usually by the exit gave me a "whaddya gonna do" shrug and I said Guess he needs his coffee and we laughed and he half-screamed It's urgent! Farther along, 2 pedestrians, one apparently on the phone but said Hi, another puffing on a Swisher Sweet and called How ya doing.
Seriously?
Srsly.
Next, a dead rat flopped on the path, which I jumped over, last minute. Then, towards the end, I passed a flushed-looking female runner coming the other direction. Next thing, she's running past me, apparently having U-turned and turned on the afterburners. Sprinted past me, and then stopped a few yards later. It's infuriating to be used to clock some lame ass's run. I wanted to clock something, all right.
Now--coffee and words.