Do The Right Thing

After hearing so many stories about Spike Lee on the Vineyard, I finally have a Spike Lee story of my own. One morning while I was running, I noticed a short black man in a black Mercedes SUV with New York tags drive past me. It sort of looked like Spike Lee so I cut my run short and turned around in the opposite direction. I noticed that the SUV stopped in the parking lot of Our Market which is the general store in Oak Bluffs (and also the place where I met Henry Louis Gates, Jr 7 years ago). I saw that the man was still in the SUV talking on the phone so I pretended like I was stretching to get a better look. It was indeed Spike Lee. Since he was still sitting in his car, I decided to go in the store and look at the magazines until he entered. However, when I got to the door, I realized that the store was still closed. It was 6:55am and the store didn't open until 7. As I turned away from the door, I noticed that Spike was looking directly at me, while still talking on the phone. I wanted to walk over and introduce myself but I didn't want to be rude so I just gave him a wave. Spike returned the wave with a shake of his fist and a slight head nod. I wish I had my camera on me but its kind of foolish to run 3 to 6 miles with a camera hanging from your arm. However, I may have to reconsider that kind of foolishness if it means taking a picture with people you admire in a place that you love.