This morning during my walk to work, an older gentleman came up to me and asked me for directions to Rhode Island Ave NW (in DC of course). He was seemingly using a GPS function on his fancy phone, but it was failing him miserably, so he turned to me for help. Now, I usually shun such inquiries on my way to work because a)I'm busy and very important and b)I'm usually knee deep into whatever podcast is blaring through my headphones. But this guy looked utterly clueless and friendly, so I said what the hell. Since he was on foot like I was, I gave him the clearest, simplest route, he said he understood, and we parted ways..kind of

Usually when you give someone directions, you go your separate ways, and part of you continues to wonder if this person really understood, are they going to get lost, or are they going to ask 45 more people until they get to their destination. But I had the unique privilege of walking the same direction as this guy, so I decided to follow him..from across the street of course. If I walked on the same street he may have wanted to a)keep checking with me or b)small talk me to death, and I was not willing to take that chance. I was however, willing to look creepy from across the street as I tracked the strength of my directions. I was going to be deeply offended if he didn't trust the stellar directions I had bestowed upon him, and asked someone else for directions. At one point he looked unsure, and he started looking all around for help, and I basically willed him not to ask anyone from across the street, all while trying to stay out of his field of vision. Then, as if my thoughts came to his rescue, he saw the very street I told his ass to turn down, and he got to his destination.

When I saw that he arrived where he needed to be, I literally did a Tiger Woods fist pump in the middle of the street--not just because my directions were successful and the guy arrived where he needed to be, but because once again, I had done some good for the community. And ultimately, that's what I'm all about.


Oh and please Take some time to listen to this podcast I participated in talking about the Washington Wizards, who won last night. Thanks to Mike and Kyle for having me.