chain gangs

woe.
i hadn't noticed all of them.
i knew they were workin' on the bottom of
my driveway. finishing off what was
begun ages ago....

and i thought they had finished up whatever
they were doing when i headed out to
retrieve my empty trash can.

wanted to go close my mailbox too as it had
opened.

just as i headed toward the trashcan, the
big ol' tar kinda truck pulled up.

can i pull out? i hollered up. he said sure
but i wouldn't be able to pull back in.

no problem i said.

he pulled up a ways, and i went to cross
the street to my mailbox.

and that's when i almost ran into them.

an entire fleet of men.

woe.
i laughed, pulling back.

woe.

i didn't see all you guys!!!

i practically ran into the first guy.

scooted over to my mailbox and shut it.
and turned to this crowd of men.
they had apparently been workin' pretty
hard with the paving stuff....they were
hot, dirty, and looked a whole whole lot
like a chain gang to me.

there they all stood.
waiting for me to pull out of my driveway.
silent. serious. convict looking.

oh my.

oh.
i wasn't quite ready.
oh.
i joked with them.
and heard myself as i joked.

talk about an intimidating crew.
but i joked anyway.
what the heck.

they backed off and made room for us
as we pulled out of our driveway. i joked
out the window to them and noticed that
every single one of them laughed.

and there were thousands of them.
okay....maybe twenty.

sometimes i don't think men know how intimidating
they can look.

specially that chain gang of men.

but you know......when they laughed.....
i shook my head to myself.

there's such good people all over the place.

it's just so important to look under the smudges.

and believe they're there.