Where Was He Going, Anyhow?

I have a 26 mile commute to work each day.  Except for listening to Bob and Sheri each morning, the drive is pretty boring.  Once in a while I catch a good look at the strippers headed in to work at the local "gentleman's club" in the afternoon, or see a couple engaged in a heated argument on the side of the road.  And there was the day two women got out of an elderly Lincoln Continental at the corner not too far from the afore-mentioned strip club, cursing all the time because the driver was too drunk to take them to their destination.  I know that because they were yelling it at anyone who'd listen while dragging several garbage bags containing their belongings out of the car, and using very colorful language to describe their chauffeur.  If memory serves me correctly it was "Drunk old ____" and insert any adjective you wish in the blank.

I do love watching the planes come in low over Wilkinson Blvd as they approach the airport, sometimes low enough to hear them in the car.

Then, once in a while, the commute deals out a gem.

Not too long ago I was headed in to work.  It was just before seven on a gorgeous morning and I was sitting at a stop light.  A green '99 Taurus pulled up beside me.  (I know it was a '99 because my eldest child just got one like it, and I'm a stickler for details.) The Taurus' driver was - well - one of a kind.

An elderly gentleman was behind the wheel.  He had a full, long beard that ranged in color from yellow to white.  He had a meerschaum pipe clenched between his teeth, and it wasn't for show - he was puffing away at it, and smoke curled from out of his open window.  I think he was wearing a british racing cap.  Best of all, this dude was wearing full-sized headphones.  Whatever he was listening to must have been pretty interesting, because he stared straight ahead, listening intently and enjoying that pipe.

It was endearing, and it was funny.  I turned my head quickly to the left so he couldn't see me laugh, but it was the best thing I'd seen in ages.  I wonder where he was going - to the airport, perhaps?  What was he listening to?  Based on how he looked it might have been Sherlock Holmes on audio, or even Shakespeare - but you never know.  Good jazz or country-western music, even?

In any event, I kind of regret not catching his eye.  If it happens again, I'm going to smile, wave, and maybe even ask what he's listening to. And if it's Fifty Shades of Grey on audio it'll teach me not to assume anything ever again.