weights in your way

I was on a recent morning walk with my dog. We went up a set of steps to get
onto the bike-path.  At the top she turned left then slowed her pace and
looked at me. There was a man not far from where we’d go.  She again looked
at me, and then moved to my right side.

The man seemed real enough, but strange that he had a set of bar bells.
There were three pair of weights.  He was carrying a set of the weights
towards the steps. He had left the bars in the middle obstructing the
pathway.  In reality I'd thought we had been the only car in the parking
area in the direction this "man" was heading.