Questions To Ponder

Sometimes I wish that I were bolder. When I walk at Park City I pass strangers with whom I would like to have a civil conversation. But I know that these conversations will never happen since these folks might feel threatened or embarrassed by my questions. But I think about them anyway. Here are five questions that I would like to ask. (1) Why do you always walk against the flow of walkers? There are a couple of people who always walk the opposite way, often walking through groups of walkers. Why? Do they just enjoy being different? Are they from England? Do they just want to observe everyone else? I guess there are people everywhere who just enjoy going against the flow. (2) There is a nail salon which has a statue of Buddha on its front counter. And every week there is a new piece of fruit or a flower in front of the statue. Is this a sacrifice for good luck? Has it done any good? What happens to the food when it gets old? When they opened, they had an altar outside of the salon and ladies in traditional garb were burning incense in the hallway. Now I would really like to stop and ask them about all of this ... not to argue or debate ... just to attempt to understand their beliefs and traditions. (3) Then there is the middle-aged man we see there each morning who appears to be homeless. Why is he homeless or is he actually homeless? Where does he stay when the mall is closed? He always has a bag with him that we assume must include some clothing or possessions. We often see him walking or sitting reading a newspaper. Now I wouldn't want to embarrass him, but if he is homeless I'd like to ask him about the circumstances that brought him to this point. (4) Then there are the regulars who buy lottery tickets at the mall and sit on the benches scrapping them off to see if they've won. I'd like to ask them how much they spend each day. I'd like to ask them how much they win. (5) Then there are the young people with brightly colored hair or baggy and torn clothing. A few weeks ago we saw a boy with pants so low that most of his blue underwear pants were exposed. Now he might be a member of some "gang" but I'd love to ask him how he keeps his pants on and how comfortable this really is. I just can't imagine that it is the least bit comfortable. (6) How do some of the "old" ladies walk so fast. A few of them almost sprint around the mall. I couldn't even move that fast when I was 40 years younger. And I don't see "old" men walking nearly that fast. But these are questions that I will only ever ask in my head. Of course there could be a seventh question I should ask. Why do I faithfully walk there six days a week? Actually, I do ask myself that question everyday as I begin to walk and I'm not sure that I ever come up with a good answer. Oh well, I guess having these questions gives me something to ponder while I trudge along and get passed by some of the sprinting women, some of them going the wrong way.