Hail...myself?!

I wanted to get some exercise last Saturday afternoon, so I put on my sweats, grabbed my portable CD player and headed out for a walk. It was a mild, sunny afternoon, and a lot of people were outside enjoying the weather.

I was making my way down a busy street when I noticed a man walking towards me. He was in his late 60s, Middle Eastern, about 5'6". He wore a white shirt, jeans, loafers, sport coat, baseball cap and sunglasses. He had his hands clasped behind his back and was walking casually, the way a sightseer would. He didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular, much less at me.

When he was about five feet in front of me, he stopped in his tracks, clicked his heels together...and saluted.

I've had some random encounters, but that was a new one.

I briefly considered saluting back, but I wasn't sure what he'd do next. Keep it simple, right? I just smiled, nodded, and went on my way.