keep going, Sideways Runner Guy

Dave and I moved to Elk Grove in 1991. It was a decidedly much smaller place back then. You could drive down the length of Laguna Boulevard in under 5 minutes (it now takes about twelve). There were 2 high schools (there are now nine). The population was significantly less--like by a hundred thousand! There was no Target, no Walmart. It was challenging to find a gas station.

I bring all of this up because through all the changes, sideways runner guy was a constant.

I first noticed him at least twenty years ago. I would see him running west on Laguna Boulevard, on the windy path that allowed people to bike, walk, roller-skate and run the length of the busy street without being on the road with cars. I'm a runner, and when I see other runners I notice. I estimate their pace, look to see if they're wearing a watch, observe their form--that kind of thing.

Sideways runner guy captured my attention, and then my imagination. I would see him every so often, usually in the evening, at various points on Laguna Boulevard. He was easy to spot because he ran tilted to his right. For lack of a better way of describing it (and I mean absolutely no disrespect with this description but I think it's one that makes the situation easier to visualize), he's sort of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, running tilted to his right.

For a while I didn't realize what was going on and I thought to myself, "That guy is wasting a lot of energy with that form."

But as I saw him again and again, always tilted to his right, I realized that he wasn't wasting energy at all. He was, in fact, running the only way he could. I don't know what happened, but clearly he and his body had undergone some sort of trauma, possibly a stroke. That realization changed the way I saw sideways runner guy. I no longer wanted to analyze his form, didn't care about his pace, and forgot to even look if he wore a watch. All I wanted to do was cheer him on.

You know how sometimes in life you see something again and again, always the same way, and then all of a sudden, for whatever reason, your perspective shifts, and you see that same thing completely differently? Sideways Runner Guy shifted my perspective on who I want to be. He shifted my perspective on me.

I want to be a person who appreciates people trying, not a person who notices their shortcomings.

I want to be a person who respects people's originality, not a person who criticizes their differences.

I don't know why Sideways Runner Guy runs sideways. But I do know that I want to be a person who simply appreciates that he runs.