Mornings and the USPS Guy

Each weekday morning I get up at 5:00 a.m. and take the dogs out for a walk before settling in with a cup of coffee and the New York Times.

The rhythm of the morning fascinates me, and, in fact, is one of the great motivators for dragging myself out of bed each morning.

There's the nice guy from the 10th floor who goes down to pick up his Wall Street Journal -- about 5:20.  Sometimes he has a dog with him (which he doesn't take out for a walk at that time).  I can't decide if he has a girlfriend that comes over occasionally (and why we only see the dog intermittently), or if he has piddle pads upstairs and doesn't need to walk the dog.

Then there's the nice woman with the Greyhound.  Every time I see her I think of 101 Dalmatians.  There's that scene at the beginning where they talk about how pets look like their people.  They go through 5 or 6 examples and I always found it amusing.  She looks and walks just like her Greyhound -- and she always has a friendly hello and a quick comment about the weather.

Then there's the USPS truck driver.  Every day, he pulls up across the street in his 18 wheeler and sits for half an hour while he reads the paper -- every day.

We have a routine.  I walk out of the building and cross the street.  Zoe, one of the three dogs I have in tow, will usually pee right when she gets outside, and then we tromp across the street to walk next to the park.  He's always looking up when I look up -- we share a friendly wave and he goes back to his paper.  I don't look up too soon, and he doesn't go back to reading his paper until we've acknowledged each other -- usually at 5:25.

The rhythm of the morning inspires me.  If I hear his truck pull up and I'm not out of bed, I feel guilty that I'll take him out of his rhythm, after all, I know he's waiting for the dogs and me.  I'd miss my weather consultation with Greyhound lady, and, oh yeah, I forgot to mention, on-his-way-home-from-work guy.

It's a part of my day that I depend on.  But I gotta say, Wall Street Journal guy has been letting me down lately and sleeping in.  Doesn't he know the drill?