“HAH!!! LOOK AT THAT HOJO WITH THE PADDLEBOARD WIGGLING ALL OVER THE BACK OF HIS PICKUP!! THAT THING IS GOING TO FLY OUT ANY MINUTE!!! I WONDER IF HE’LL NOTICE? MAYBE I CAN SCOOP IT UP IF IT FLIES OUT….HMMMMMMM…..WHAT A FREAKING HOEDAD!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! FREAKING FUNHOG.”

That wasn’t a kind way of thinking about someone else’s awkward situtation….but, you know, it was all inside my head. It was in my head.

Do I need to apologize for the things that people don’t know that I’m thinking, too?

By the time that I got closer, the guy in the pickup was out of the vehicle and securing the gear…..and, embarrassingly, to me, he looked kind of familiar.

Of course, it’s my blessing in life that most of the “funhogs” look kind of familiar.

That’s a kind of life that I leaned up against for a while.

Being a faux-funhog is ….kind of fun.

Anyway….the point of this is that I was aware of how much my attitude changed towards this paddleboard dude when I thought that there was a chance that I knew him.

I was a lot more benevolent feeling towards his situation when I thought that he might be a long lost”bro”.

I wonder how many situations might turn around if I remembered who I knew….or, even….made the mistake of believing that a stranger was a friend?

That’s a good kind of mistake to make….to believe that someone that I don’t know (yet) is already a friend…and deserving of the kind of “kind consideration” I should be giving to all the people I already love.

The dude yesterday didn’t need my help.

He had some rope and some common sense.

He knew how to secure his load.

His stuff didn’t blow away or wiggle out of his truck.

I still might like to find a paddleboard or a decent kayak out on the highway, though.

If I didn’t know who’d lost it in the hurricane, I might like to put it out in my shed….along with all the other gear I’m not using right now.