Getting Flipped Off In The Morning

This morning, I woke up in a new place.

I am staying in a hotel in Ashland, OR, getting ready to start a week-long conference this afternoon. I drove yesterday from about 10:00am until 7:30pm to get here. I checked in, unloaded my stuff, and decided to go get a salad for dinner.

I was in bed by 9:30pm, very tired.

Slept pretty well.

Nice place to stay.

I awoke about 5:00am, a little later than normal, and it hit me that I was in a completely different environment and my normal routines would need to be adjusted.

Coffee? Yes, the room had a little coffee maker. That was good.

Walk to a coffee shop? Well, I am out on the edge of town, and the nearest café-type coffee shop is about 1.5 miles away. I saw there was a Starbucks half a mile away that opened at 6:00am.

Perfect.

I can walk there, get a coffee, and walk into town to check things out before the heat wave starts. It will be in the low-to-mid 90s by this afternoon, and I just left a part of the PNW that currently has days around 72 degrees.

This all went really well.

I even decided to extend my walk another 30 minutes to help ensure I can hit my One Hit Wonder goal of 15,000 steps per day.

As I was finishing up my walk toward town and about to turn around and head back to the hotel, I heard a clanking metal sound coming up behind me.

That’s an odd noise, I thought to myself.

I got to the place where I wanted to turn around and crossed the street. As I did, I saw a guy in the bike lane pushing a noisy shopping cart. I glanced at it and noticed it had some items in it, then looked away.

However, as I was turning my head to look ahead at the sidewalk, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the guy was staring right at me as we passed one another.

Not only that, he had his right arm extended toward me, giving me the middle finger of love.

I stopped and had my arms and hands extended in the universal “What did I do to upset you?” gesture.

As in, “Huh?”

He said, “F’ you. I know what you’re thinking. I’m a prophet… and I know…” followed by something, something, something.

As he walked on, he went into a louder and louder rant as he headed down the street.

Welcome to Ashland!

Look, I have no idea what set him off.

I have no idea who he is or what his situation is.

I have no desire to put him down or make fun of him.

But it does make me wonder.

How is it that this man is out feeling so angry, or so bad about his circumstances, and here I am out walking to improve my health and fitness, enjoy the beauty of the town, and take in the cool morning air?

It’s a stark contrast, and that seems like something not to lose sight of.

I suppose I am lucky he didn’t physically attack me or pull a gun if he happened to have one.

I could make all sorts of guesses about how he started his day, but they would only be speculation. Maybe this is how he likes to start his day, but somehow I doubt it.

But wow.

What a way to start your day.

It’s interesting because I have considered the idea of relocating to Ashland before.

I stopped here on a trip across the country in 2023 and thought it was a pretty special place.

However, as I drove here yesterday, I noticed that the farther I got from my home, the less enthusiastic I became about where I was going.

The trees thinned out.

The mountain peaks moved off into the distance.

The air became warmer.

The rest stops became seedier.

The sun more intense.

The ground and grass a crisp fire tender, hopefully not catching a spark anytime soon.

Oh, there were a couple of nice spots along the way.

Portland, OR—but dang, so much traffic.

Eugene, OR was where the beauty of the PNW started to come back after Leaving Portland.

The mountain passes between Eugene and here are spectacular.

And this town is a beauty, no doubt.

I look forward to the time I will spend here.

But it’s a destination, not a home.

And I think this guy may have been a little sign from the universe letting me know that.

Or maybe not.

In a way, I guess I am laughing at myself in sharing this story.

I woke up in a beautiful hotel room, in a beautiful town, with the resources and mobility to go take care of my desires—coffee stimulation, fitness, exploration—and the most impactful thing that happened on my walk was getting flipped off?

Get over my bad self, I guess, is the lesson.

Get on with the day.

Go to the next important task that matters.

Keep bringing the desired lifestyle about.

Keep going.

Let the little things be little things.

Enjoy this conference and bring back some gold nuggets of insight and ideas.

Try to do some good in the world.

And that’s about all we can do some days, right?