12:51PM, Colonial and Alafaya I only had to work for half a day and had just visited the local rotisserie for lunch. My original plan was
to make a quick stop by the bank to make a deposit and then drive to work -- but on my way I realized that I was running short on time and opted to forgo the bank and just head to work. So instead of taking a left turn into the bank I drove to the intersection and prepared to make a right. At first I thought it might be an old woman shuffling across the road. Slow steps in shoes hidden beneath the ragged cuffs of denim jeans intersected the path of my turn, so I waited
for the way to clear again and watched -- perhaps I was curious, I'm not too sure. The person looked frail and haggard with skin like boiled leather and a shirt that might have been white at one time but now was a faded and aged looking yellowish gray. We made eye contact. It was a man; pepper white stubble sprouted from his chin and his eyes, half concealed under folds of thick wrinkles, glared into mine. I shrunk down behind the wheel of my car. He was
looking at me with a gaze of contempt. His thin lips parted as he began to mouth words I couldn't hear over the din of my car's engine and the huffing of the air conditioner. His raggedly faded denim pants had holes in them, and as he spoke I could see several missing teeth. His pace slowed, as if daring me to run him down as he continued to lecture me. For a moment his head bobbed down sharply as though he were spitting on the asphalt and then shot back up to sneer
at me again. I felt frozen in my seat. The jumble of instincts in my head were barking orders. Smile at him. Wave. Offer him your lunch. Offer him the five dollar bill in your pocket. Ask him what the matter is. Say something! But instead I just sat in my car, an unmoving and indifferent looking statue. As he moved closer I could read the contempt on his face, the boiling hatred of me. But as he walked he also opened up my
path to drive on... So on I drove. I wanted to get away from him. From the guilt of whatever phantom sin I had done against him. I glanced in my mirror as I departed, watching him as I sped away. He didn't even look back at me. | 
