It's so hard to say good-bye to my homies

Yes the Master P song, not Boyz II Men, as "gangsta" as Boyz may sound.

While I was metro'ing all through the greater DC region, I had an unfortunate stop at Regan International Airport. This was because I was so mentally fatigued from running around all day, I didn't notice I jumped on the Blue Line instead of the Orange.

You may think I'm the one to blame, but really it's only about 67% my fault. Ya see, the Metro Transit Authority thought it'd be great to switch incoming times. I checked about 10 minutes before arrival and the sign said I had 12 minutes till the Orange Line and 8 minutes for Blue. Well whaddaya know, the Orange arrives first and next thing you know I'm at the airport.

With only a 25 minute layover till the next train, I quietly observed people being pick-up/dropped-off at the various airport gates.

The most obvious sighting was the "good-bye" hug. Two things shocked me while I was there.

1) Two parents dropped off their son, who couldn't have been older than 15. Mom got out of the car, gave him a 3-second hug, and Dad didn't even get out of the car!!! First-off, why is there a 15-yr old roaming the airport alone, in DC? Secondly, what kind of father-figure was this? I mean for god's sake, at least give him a hand-shake or slap on the back. No wonder he'll grow-up listening to Pantera and not give you a dime for the retirement home. I'm siding with the son on this one.

The second most disturbing sighting was a couple, who by my estimations were never going to see each other again. The b/f (I'm assuming here) dropped off his g/f or ex-g/f. She was packing light, one smaller suitcase and a back-pack. Nothing jumped out right away, but then they embraced in what could be the world-record for the longest hug.

I kid you not. I can honestly say my MP3 player went through 3 songs while they were hugging!! I don't know about you, but after a minute or more, I start to get uncomfortable. Maybe, they somehow saw me and were testing to see how long I looked. Yeah, I thought of this option and looked away for a good minute. When I looked back, they were still at it. We're talking a good 10-12 minutes of hugging here. Some people don't even have se.....errr play Jumanji that long.

Perhaps their belt-buckles got tied together and they couldn't figure it out. Maybe they worked for the FAA and were timing to see how long it takes for Security to tell them to "move it along here". My craziest idea? She was leaving him to become the next contestant on the "Flava of Love" and you know once your girl goes on that show, you'll never accept her back.

Now through all of this crazy blabber, you're probably thinking, why were you running around? Ahhh yes, the weekend dilemma. I was searching for hockey equipment, to use that night, in the DC Street Hockey league. Finding hockey equipment, especially for roller/street leagues, is like finding a virgin in an fraternity house. It ain't gonna happen.

Honestly, the one place I found equipment was at Kettler Iceplex in the Ballston Mall. As much as I love hockey, there is no way I'm spending $350 on the stick/gloves/shin guards trio. I escaped outta there with equipment that'll hopefully hold up for about $75 for the pads/gloves and $40 for the stick.

The one glimmer of hope for the region, was watching a Pee-Wee and Midget game at the Iceplex. No, I'm not being an ass, those are the names of the leagues. The game is still pure at those levels, and the joy on their faces after a tie-game was something I haven't seen forever.

I hope the game of hockey and life remains that way for them for many years to come.