Here, Benji

On my lunch break today I saw a dog being walked...or something.

The river is only a few blocks from my office and at 58 degrees I grabbed some tunes and went for a stroll. On my way back to work, running towards me at a moderate but respectable pace, was a Benji-looking dog. Not the spriest dog you've ever seen, but one in good health. I looked around for who this dog might belong to, but didn't see anyone walking around on the path or the grass. There's a small road about 50 or so feet inland from the walking path that connects a couple parking lots, the marina, a restaurant, and the casino entrance. Creeping along on this drive was a silver sedan with a lone man in the driver seat. The dog glanced over at it now and again.

I looked at the dog running towards me, looked again for an owner. The dog sniffed at me briefly as it went past me and the man in the sedan went by me too. Could the driver have been "walking" his dog? The pair disappeared around the bend near the marina. A few minutes later as I was hiking up the bluff back into the world of trains and autos, the man and Benji were exiting the parking lot together in the silver car.

I don't know whether I should be impressed at his imagination or outraged at his laziness. He looked like a middle-aged man in good health. Shouldn't the dog get to run around at his natural pace without the guy getting all sweaty on his lunch break? How did they get into this routine in the first place? My dogs seem to know husband and I by our cars. At least, they don't typically bark when we pull in versus anyone else. I guess for Benji it's just like going for a walk with a really long invisible leash. Good dog.