The Smoking Obese Tricyclist

As I approached a red light, I noticed a very large woman waiting to cross the street. She was riding a tricycle. And it wasn't motorized. I'd never seen anyone her size riding a bike, or rather a trike. A truck pulled up beside me, blocking her from my vision. And just as I was thinking, "that's so cool; good for her making a healthy lifestyle change," she rode right past me and I saw that she was smoking a cigarette.

I had to laugh. It was the oddest sight, full of contradictions. I started to wonder if she wasn't trying to lose weight by riding a trike but maybe she was just broke and couldn't afford a car or gas. Or maybe she was an environmentalist! A smoking one.

Or maybe she was trying to lose weight and smoking helps her eat less. Maybe she even just started smoking to help curb her appetite.

Who knows? And it doesn't matter. It was just a funny sight. And it was funny to observe in myself the tendency to make assumptions based on appearances and the tendency to create stories to make sense of things. I was laughing at what I saw as well as at myself the rest of the way home.

It also made me think that writing fictional short stories based on some of the characters I've been meeting, or just seeing, lately could be fun. Might as well put that imagination and story-telling tendency to use! But only if I've already completed my other writing goals for the day, or need a little writing warm up. So thank you, smoking tricycling lady, for the laugh and the inspiration. You also inspired me to go for a walk when I got home, since I don't have a trike. I'm sure you inspired some others as well.

© 2012 Rebecca Clio Gould. All rights reserved.