for 4 OCT 05: THE RUDE AWAKENING

This has been my best year for running in a long time. And at times, the runs have been very memorable. Take one recent Saturday night, when I ran about three miles nonstop on the Riverwalk - and even paused to run in place for a minute or so, while a man insulted me.

I wasn't looking for an insult at all. But as I approached the north end of the main Riverwalk below Synovus, I jogged around a couple walking their large dogs. "I'll be turning around in a moment," I tried to tell them - but I'm not sure if they heard me. I suppose some joggers talking at less than full voice might be using cell phones.

I went up a couple of stairs below the River Club, then went back down to reverse my course as I usually do when I run. That's when I noticed the woman's dog was jumping around, off its leash -- and she didn't have a frisbee in her hand, for it to chase.

What should I do at a moment like this? At that spot on the Riverwalk, there's a stairway leading down for fishing by the Chattahoochee. I went to the metal gate to that stairway, and closed it behind me. This would give the woman a moment to bring the dog under control -- and I wouldn't be tempted to become its dinner.

But as it happened, the man with HIS dog had the same idea. He walked the dog down a stairway on the other side, heading for where I was. That dog still was leashed, so I wasn't concerned - since the liability lawsuit for that bite would have been a more convincing case.

The woman clearly was having trouble bringing her pet under control. "He won't harm you," she assured me. The dog, no - but her husband might prove shortly to be another matter.

"Are you aware of the leash laws on the Riverwalk?" I asked as matter-of-factly as I could, still running in place behind the closed gate.

"Are you aware of how rude you are?" answered the husband approaching me. Didn't he hear his wife speak first?

"How am I being rude?" I asked the husband.

"By closing that gate when we're trying to get out." The man and his leashed dog were almost at my end of the stairway, and I opened the gate to let them through. I really didn't think they lost that much momentum.

"Dogs can bite. Dogs can kill." I tried to cite the Diane Whipple case in San Francisco a couple of years ago for the couple - but this reasoning proved very unpersuasive.

"Our dogs don't do that."

"But I don't know that. So why is it rude for me take precautions about something I don't know?"

The husband seemed to consider me much TOO cautious -- and said he didn't fear other humans on the Riverwalk on a Saturday night. "How do I know you don't have a knife in your hand?" he told me.

I opened my hand, which did have something in it. "Keys" - four on a ring.

"But you might have a knife hidden in your pants!" he said becoming more frustrated.

"I can show you that, too" - and I should note my running shorts had no pockets for my keys.

"Now you're being ridiculous," he told me. When I tried to continue the discussion, he walked away with his dog. "You're a crazy man! You're insane!"

The couple walked north. I jogged south. Our paths didn't cross again - but they stayed in my brain for the rest of the workout. Does caution equal rudeness? Does a careful approach qualify as insanity? Is this why people say speed-limit drivers on the interstate are asking to be run over and killed?

THE BIG BLOG QUESTION wants your input on this incident. Did my approach to the loose dog on the Riverwalk qualify as insanity? Does taking a precaution qualify as safety, or rudeness? And could it be that I stumbled upon a Democrat, who went outside because Fox News Channel annoyed him too much?

Now for other quick notes (insanity level up to you) from the Monday news:

+ A Columbus Police officer shot a man, who was suspected of burglarizing Captain Tom's Seafood on Macon Road. Police say the suspect threatened officers with a sledgehammer - which is amazing, because I really didn't think the fish at that restaurant was that tough.

+ The Ledger-Enquirer reported Tom's Foods is looking desperately for a buyer, because it's running low on cash. Bankruptcy papers indicate sales have eroded since the company filed for Chapter 11. Maybe if they hadn't torn up the employee pension plan?!?!

+ Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore confirmed he'll run for Governor next year. He says he wants to "return Alabama to the people." And here we thought that already happened -- when Richard Schrushy was acquitted for HealthSouth's problems.

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: We're posting extra-early because of the Biblical Feast of Trumpets, which Jews mark as Rosh Hashanah. A happy holy day to all who are keeping it!)

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