leaving Denny's for the airport yesterday and a feller starts yelling at us. I was slow on the uptake, didn't connect the sound to us, but Beth caught the drift and said let's go back into the restaurant. and it was weird enough, as the guy started bellowing and running toward us. Beth told the cashier about this guy. he came to the door, kinda knocked on the door. a manager met him there. the guy was apologizing for scaring the people. the manager met him on such terms. he didn't mean to scare anyone, he said. the guy shook hands with the manager. he came in, apologized to me and to Beth. he stuck his hand out for Beth to shake. it was a little odd, since he was a black man and Denny's has had problems with racial profiling. he shook my hand with a very strong grip, smelled of alcohol. he explained the situation to the two Denny's employees nearby. he didn't mean to scare anyone, he said. a woman was heading for the cashier and he graciously took her hand and kissed it. he was some indeterminate age, 30-60. his hands were dry and craggy. I'm so slow to piece things together that I never felt concerned about his rush towards us. I felt tremendous sadness about the guy. I have no idea what his point was. probably he didn't know either. when we went back out he was on the corner where he started, with his pack. life nowhere, or nearly so. that morning when I was wandering around in Orem, I saw a guy with his belongings in trashbags, and dressed in same as well. sensibly, as it had rained hard the night before. he mumbled but to himself. both men in their worlds, with diminishing connection to 'this' world. already seen that with my father. a slippery slope of loss. and you know, you might want to be noble and empathize, but you can't do it. their trouble is in a world you do not really know. I find myself relegating these people into 'these people', cannot break thru that barrier. I'm in my own box. a long way to go...