Walking Away

I met him again. The fellow I ran into on a walk yesterday afternoon. This time at his place of work.  In the morning, I drove to the grocery supermarket where he works, to buy a loaf of the sliced bread I eat for breakfast.   They didn't have it, it's one of those items that aren't delivered on Sundays, and I had to set the empty shopping basket down and retreat.   Walking out of the store I ran into him,  I still don't know his name, or he mine, I asked him "Where's your dog tag?" meaning the name tag that all employees there wear, and he said that he had left it at home.

Then he asked, "So you're walking away?"  I explained my breakfast toast mini-tragedy, he informed me about the delivery schedule, and then he said, "Did you ever walk away from a situation?" I like the way he thinks, getting inspired by what's happening around him there and then.   I answered, "Oh yes, not once, not twice!"

He said, "So have I, man!" And added, "And I'm not sure if all this walking away has led me to better places. It's not the same as running away, mind you, just walking away from the games people, women, play with you like you're a toy, or something,   I've walked away from the Caribbean, then from New York, not just from those physical places, but from situations there that I couldn't continue for some reason, or because something stronger was calling to me somewhere else, but perhaps I could have stayed and gotten into better situations, just like you theoretically could substitute another bread for the one we don't have on the shelf today. That's not what I'm suggesting, pardon me, just hypothesizing."

Ah, the chess player.