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Monday, September 01, 2008

Being Terrified

I had met friends early yesterday for a girls day out and we were discussing two particular workout songs. I had already heard and enjoyed one of them, because it was so upbeat, and I was excited to hear the other. No, these aren't the type of songs you would playing at a dinner party but for motivation they work great because they're so fast. By the time I decided to go for a run after dinner, I coincidentally had two new additions downloaded onto my iPod. (Don't worry, Big Giraffe. If you've connected your iPod to my computer recently you too have these fabulous songs on your iPod. I'm sure you're thrilled.)

Of course, I didn't hit the road as soon as my meal ended. You know how it goes though where you just need to do one thing followed by another and before you know it a whole hour has gone by? It was starting to get a teeny bit dusky outside, but I decided to go for it anyway. As I started running, it suddenly seemed more than a teeny bit dark. The first of my new songs, Beat it by Fall Out Boy, was playing. Yeah, it's a remake of the Michael Jackson song. I felt pumped and my feet were definitely beating it out on the pavement.

After a while, I noticed a car parked on the sidewalk, next to a patch of woods. Right away my creep alert went on. Why was there a car parked on the sidewalk? Where was the driver? Was he hanging out in the woods? Sidewalks are a rare occurrence where I live. Did someone get confused about their purpose? I got off the sidewalk and started running in the street. I've seen enough TV to know better than to get to the close to the bushes. Who says TV is a waste of time!

One-hundred fifty feet later, as my second great song, Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm started playing, a guy popped out of the woods with a chainsaw and a weed whacker. I freaked out, let out a stifled scream, and started running faster than I have ever run before. Then I realized two things. The guy was as surprised to see me as I was to see him, which is atypical of slashers from horror movies. More importantly, he actually had a valid reason for being there with a chainsaw and weed whacker. He was a town employee doing landscaping. Neither of these realizations caused me to pause or even slow down.

While he had a valid reason for being there, one might question whether he had a valid reason for being there at 7:45 pm on a Sunday night. My friend Sally HP suspected that he forgot to do it last week in preparation for the start of the school year. He probably had an "Oh s**t!" moment Sunday evening, further forgetting that schools would not be open on Labor Day. That explanation makes sense to me, but I have no intention of going back to ask.

Reminder to the Big Giraffe: My goal in the triathlon is to "complete not compete." No bringing a chainsaw next Sunday to inspire me.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: If your creep alert goes on, it's a good idea to turn around and go back the direction you just came from.

posted by Alex Elliot @ 5:54 PM 4 comments

4 Comments:

At 9/02/2008 2:21 AM, Zip n Tizzy said…

You had me really freaked out as that is often where my nightmares start off before they get scary, and now I can't stop giggling.
Poor guy. I hope he has a good sense of humor. Maybe he can't stop giggling either.
At 9/02/2008 7:28 AM, Jen of A2eatwrite said…

I'm sure he's run into your reaction before if he runs around catching up on work at that hour. Yikes!

The weed whacker tipped me off, though. It wouldn't have if I'd been in your shoes, however.
At 9/02/2008 12:59 PM, Suzanne said…

I totally would have spazzed. I like your logic, though, that a serial killer would not be as surprised to see you as you him.
At 9/04/2008 10:43 AM, Kami said…

I cannot stop laughing... I totally would have freaked too but then your lesson learned...Too funny!

You just know someone is going to show with a chain saw and you have your best time yet!

:-)

My Profile

Name:	Alex Elliot
Home:	MA, United States
About Me:	Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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