Much Ado about NOTHING

Things seen while walking to the train station today and almost every day:

A little boy walking a big, ugly bulldog/mongrel that growls at me. I pass them several times a week, and I always hope that kid can keep a tight grip on the leash.

A grinning Asian guy pedaling furiously a small, folding-type bicycle along the sidewalk. I almost get run over by him each and every morning.

A middle-aged, well-dressed lady in sunglasses on a lady-like bike with a wicker basket on the front, trimmed with artificial daisies. She's also on the sidewalk, but moving slow and with a serious, very determined expression. She'd run over me too, I think, if I didn't get out of her way.

Gas stations: $3.89/gallon at one, $3.99/gallon at another. This is why I walk everywhere I can, or one reason.

Jehovah's Witnesses dressed in Sunday best and carrying stacks of magazines. They wish me a good morning. "No thanks," I say, then think: So now I won't have a good morning?

A billboard for a home-improvement store with the figure of a giant lumberjack (?) smiling down at me. Or laughing at me?

A very white statue of Mary smiling beatifically and with out-stretched arms in front of a rectory. Let it be.

An abandoned Volkswagen dealership with enormous broken-glass walls, which might make a good set for a post-apocalyptic film.

Three crossing guards, employed by the school system but happy to "cross" adults too. One is a young, black guy on a busy corner who blows his whistle and then curses at speeding drivers who ignore him. Another is an old lady with orange gloves and intense stop-and-go hand movements. And one is a young giantess who always says "good morning" to me sweetly, then says "go ahead!" impatiently if I show even the slightest hesitation when the light changes.

A morning line of down-at-the-heels people waiting for a Social Security office on Kennedy Boulevard to open -- old, young, white, black, but all with tired eyes that track me as I pass by. Thinking what?