My Life Is a Television Show

I've been having a few too many moments lately where I feel like my life is a television episode. Imagine a combination of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and 30 Rock. The awkwardness of the latest events are a little too fresh to share, so I thought I'd share a story from a few years ago.

A friend and I had driven out to a local forested park to go for a run. Before heading into the trails I decided to use the restroom. One other women, who happened to be in a wheelchair, and I were waiting in the line-up. We shared some small talk. She asked if I was there to go for a run. We talked about what a beautiful day it was to be at the park. The usual, predictable small talk that takes place between two friendly strangers.

It came time to wrap up our conversation. I expected our conversation to go something like this:

The Woman: "Have a good day."

Me: "Yeah, you too."

Seems simple enough, right? Well, my "yeah, you too" response was halfway out of my mouth before I fully processed what she had said. She had not said "Have a good day," but rather, "Have a good run."

I had just basically told a women in a wheelchair to have a good run.

As I realized what I had said, we both looked at each other awkwardly. There were seconds of silence where I considered whether I should try to correct myself or apologize. Instead, some awkward noises came out, "er...uh...yeah...bye." I turned around and walked out.

As I walked away, feeling like a jerk, this was the theme song playing in my head.