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Springtime Movie Script

Here's a "meet cute" idea for a romantic comedy. It's a lovely springtime day. The boy and the girl each individually decide to go out for a bike ride. They both wind up riding the same bike path and keep getting stuck at red lights together, and begin to exchange witty banter as they wait for each light to turn green. She's young and attractive. He's older, but has a certain seasoned charisma from having lived life fully. When she finishes her ride she walks into a neighborhood cafe to get a cappuccino, and they simultaneously notice each other. Romance ensues.

OK, I am not even remotely in the market to meet anyone, in a cute way or otherwise. And I'm a little short on seasoned charisma. But I did get caught with the same young woman at every red light on the bike path from Columbia Pike to the river. And one time we did actually speak to each other, exchanging a comment about how we were missing every light. When we got to the the intersection of the Mt. Vernon trail I turned left, while she stopped - to meet up with her boyfriend, who had been waiting there for her. And that's when I realized that if I ever indeed found myself in a romcom I'd be the nerdy guy who watches the girl wind up with someone else.

Well, no matter, my goal was to get some bike mileage in, not to find some SWF. I already have the best one of those. And my mood improved when I spotted some unusual ducks on the river - they looked like scaups, or scoters, or something.

Writing "SWF" makes me wonder: in the age of online dating, free from the word count constraints of newspaper personal ads, does anyone even know what "SWF" means anymore? By coincidence, I was speaking with one of the Westover Beer Garden Book Club regulars this evening. She's currently in the market, as they say, and is actively making use of several online dating sites. She's thirty something years old and had no idea that there had been such a thing as personal ads. She may not be aware that there was a time before the Internet. Sigh.

Anyway, this post has been one long digression, hasn't it? Today was my telework day and I planned my work schedule so I could take a break in the afternoon and go for a bike ride. The day was beautiful, warm and sunny. I rode the Arlington Loop: about 18 miles down the W&OD trail, the Four Mile Run connector, up the river on the Mt. Vernon trail, then out the Custis back home. Alas, my wintertime indoor fitness biking doesn't seem to have added much to my pedaling power or stamina. I was still granny gearing it up those choppy hills on the Custis and my weak little quads were feeling it towards the end. The good news is that I had none of the knee pain I had experienced on the 25 mile ride I did a few weeks ago. I stretched before this ride - maybe that made a difference. Or maybe my legs are good for a distance somewhere in [18 - 25) miles.

Bottom line - my job may have its problems, but I love springtime telework days!


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