Do not envy

One summer afternoon I noticed a young man rollerblading down the road in the heat of the afternoon. He was headed right down the middle of the road. He looked like he was headed somewhere and enjoying himself at the same time. For just that moment I envied him. It looked like fun. I was in the middle of something and didn't want to take the time for myself. I didn't have anywhere to go.

Half an our later came a down poor as thick as a shower curtain. The young man came roller blading back the same way he had come. He was drenched. That didn't stop him. Could he have found some cover and waited it out. I'm not sure if it entered his mind. He didn't look miserable. He looked exactly the same as he had before. For just that moment I envied him. The rain wasn't stopping his enjoyment.

This was in the era before mobile phones. So many of us have a phone in our pocket that if it so much as encounters a drop of sweat or one hint of fluid, it dies and must be replaced. If the U. S. government wants to do something constructive about the obesity problem, they would mandate water resistant phones.