An Earnest Man Walking

I enjoy watching people while walking amid the masses in airport concourses and while waiting at gates to catch flights.  You tend to see every sort of person.  I sometimes make a game of it and try to spot a full-on cowboy, a biker-dude, a tiny woman with crazy-high spike heels, a girl with pink hair and black lipstick, and a man approaching seven feet in height.  That tends to keep me pretty busy and occupies my time fairly well.

Yesterday, I flew back to Montana from Ohio with layovers in Detroit and Minneapolis.  While in Detroit, I saw something new: an earnest man walking.  I’m not sure what motivated this man, but this man was walking very fast.  Sure, I have seen lots of people walking fast in the airport before.  I have done so myself.

This guy was different.

He was on a moving walkway and cranking his legs like a man walking through a pit of fire.  Only thing is, he was barely making progress because he was walking the wrong direction against the moving belt.  A brisk walk barely made him advance forward.

I stopped and watched him walking against the current for a while, amazed by his efforts.  Head forward, grimace on his face, he reeked of resolve.

Honestly, his determination impressed me.  We could use more of that kind of stuff in this world, but I am a bit uncertain of the mental abilities that placed him going the wrong way on the moving belt.

-- Mitchell Hegman