Jim from Boston

Over the years on my commute I have routinely encountered several people, and I like to give them nicknames. I often saw a serious-looking cyclist passing in the opposite direction at about 6 in the morning as I approached my destination, and he was known as “good buddy.” Once at the midway point of our commute, I had stopped, and he did too. We exchanged names and some biographical information, mainly job-related, and even corresponded a bit by E-mail.

There was a driver in a windowless white van often approaching in the opposite direction who would give me a friendly toot. This was during the time of the Washington DC sniper who also drove a windowless van, so that driver became the “stalker.” I eventually met him at a coffee shop I routinely stopped at near my destination. I eventually also met a guy who walked his dog, and learned they were Ed and the Chief.

Two regulars at the coffee shop were an older couple who swam every morning, but I do not recall their names. That coffee shop changed hands, and I haven’t been there for about five years, Nonetheless, just last week the lady swimmer greeted me, and I did not recognize her (my bad), but we did re-connect and I re-learrned their names. Marianne, a morning walker in the opposite direction did not have a nickname but I learned her real name when we met on a commuter train.

Finally, when I encounter a certain morning runner approacing in the opposite direction, I know it’s going to be a good day. One day as I was riding in the opposite of my normal direction I rode along side her and we exchanged real names. However, she is still known to me as the “Fleet Goddess.”