The connection between walking the dog and teaching computer basics to over sixties. Believe me, there can be a very real and ultimately carnal connection, at least, that is what two such dog walkers discovered.
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Along the Path.
Every morning I walk the dog. There is a path that follows the river very near my house. If you go walking at a regular time, you tend to pass the same people walking their dogs every day. Most dog walkers are inclined to make an early morning job of it. I go a bit later and so do not see so many people, but there are a number of people I do pass regularly.
Dog walkers are friendly people and greet each other with "Good morning," or "Hello." Some stop and have a chat, usually about their dogs or the weather. Often I don't know their names, so I make up names based on some characteristic feature about them or their dog. For example, there is Mrs. Poodle who obviously has a poodle. Then there is Mrs. Coal Scuttle, so named because she wears a hat that reminds me of a coalscuttle we had when I was a child. There is Mr. Brown coat and Mrs. Foot Dog (Because her dog walks backward watching her feet).
The focus of my story is, however, Mrs. Slow Coach. She got this name because her dog slowly ambles along about two or three hundred metres behind her, looking suspiciously at passersby. She has to stop every now and then to let the dog catch up.
She seemed to be a shy woman, and for a long time walked by without giving any return greeting. This came to an end when one day I caught up with her as she waited for her dog, and she smiled and said "hello". I stopped for a moment and commented about her dog's slow pace and his suspicious stare. She told me that the poor creature had been brutally treat as a puppy and this accounted for his suspicion. We spoke a little longer, then I walked on.
For the next few weeks we had further casual conversations whenever we met, then one day I happened to mention that I taught computer basics to people over sixty. She took this up, saying that she had just bought her first computer, and couldn't understand it. She asked if she would be able to attend the course I taught, and I pointed out that she wouldn't qualify because of her age.
Computers Do Make Friends.
She was and is somewhere in her mid forties. Like most men when meeting a woman, I had sized her up sexually. She is about five feet five, and has middle age spread β a little plumpness round the waist. She has short fair hair, light blue eyes and soft white skin. Her walking clothes do not offer much chance to weigh up the more subtle aspects of her physique, but I could see the strong possibility of very full breasts. I had noted the wedding ring on her finger, and thought to myself, "Her husband must have enjoyable bedtimes." She spoke very slowly with a pleasant voice, and her movements were also slow and deliberate.
She seemed mildly disappointed that she would not be able to attend the computer course I taught, so I made a few suggestions about other courses. This ended our conversation for that day, but a few days later we met again, and she presented me with a computer problem she was having. I offered a few suggestions about how she might fix the difficulty, and again, the conversation ended as we departed in opposite directions.
By now, I had learnt that her name was Marion, and it was a few days before I saw her again. I asked if my suggestions had fixed her computer problem, and she said it hadn't. I went on to enquire if she knew anyone who could come to her house and try to find out what the trouble was. She replied that she didn't know anyone of that sort.