To stay active during the lockdown of the pandemic, I walk for an hour+ each morning. I try to go out in the 7 o’clock hour because there are more people outside as the morning drags on. But no matter what time I head out, I encounter the same frustrating issue.

Inevitably, I cross paths with at least one person who is not interested in social distancing. For example, this morning, as I walked up 18th Street, I saw a gentleman approaching in the opposite direction. He appeared to be in his fifties, wore a scarf, which was not covering his face, and held what looked like a cup of coffee. He walked in the middle of the sidewalk as he strolled towards me. I moved as far to the right as I could, practically hugging the building that bordered the path. My man did not alter his course as he passed within two feet of me. I seethed as if he had sneezed in my face.

I don’t know this individual. Maybe it was a Rush Limbaugh crony, who thinks the coronavirus is barely more severe than the flu; perhaps his level of knowledge is comparable to the governor of Georgia, and he does not realize asymptomatic individuals can transmit coronavirus to others; maybe he was consumed by his thoughts and was distracted from the fact a global pandemic ravages the globe. Whatever the explanation for his behavior, I wanted to call out, “Dude, WHAT THE FUCK?!” and berate him.

Instead, I took a breath and thought, “If assholes could fly . . . ” and walked back to my apartment.