How much weird stuff can I witness in 1.25 miles?

Tonight Jeff and I headed over to Crown Hill Park where there is an inside path that is 1.25 miles and an outside path that is 2.5 miles.  We took the rat dogs with us and decided to trade off running and walking them.  I started walking the dogs on the 1.25 mile path. 

I don’t know if strange things gravitate to me, or if I just notice things, but all sorts of weird stuff went down in those 1.25 miles.

1) As Jeff ran by on the outer loop, he waved at me.  In between us were 2 pre-teen boys.  One of the boys waved back at Jeff (he didn’t see me) and then turns to his friend and says:

“That’s my cousin.  He’s a runner.” But he said it like he was bragging and in a really creepy tone.  And not only that, the boy was Hispanic (Jeff is a red head). 

So weird on several levels.  First of all, why would he claim Jeff was his cousin and why would he brag about it?  Secondly, are runners so cool that when you see us you want to claim we are related??

2) Two half-drunk men were fishing and drinking a 30-pack of Natty Light.  One of them men kept thinking he had a fish on his line.  He would dramatically reel in the line like he was fighting a 30-pound bass, but each time would come up empty and act SOOOO disappointed and shocked that this monster fish wasn’t on the hook (it kept getting stuck on the bottom of the lake).  This happened several times in a row.  Did he really think they were catching things?  Or was he that drunk?   

3) A large man is slogging along and right as he gets to me, he stops, lifts the sunglasses off his eyes and with an appalled and disgusted expression says:

“What ARE they?” and points dramatically at Jay and Elle like they were some sort of alien that should be quarantined.  I get that question a lot, but most people are not that weird about it.  I understand that my dogs are really bizarre looking and most people stop and ask me what they are, but really, is it necessary to point and mock my poor dogs’ appearance?   

I awkwardly smiled and gave a fake laugh and said “Italian Greyhounds. Yeah they are different.”

What I really wanted to say was, “I’m a geneticist and one night got a little drunk and decided to cross a kangaroo and a deer.  This is what I got.  Messed up, riiighhht?” 

Next time someone is rude like that, I’m saying that to really confuse them and make them feel stupid.