Category: convos with strangers

i’m speaking with some strangers … here’s why,

as i approached the street corner, i noticed a girl facing away from the road, looking confused.

her: can i ask you a question?

me: sure.

her: how do i get to massachusetts avenue?

me: *thinks to self if the accent didn’t give her away, her not calling it mass ave would have.* *also thinks to self, ummm* umm, if you follow this road straight *points* you’ll hit mass ave on your right.

biker pulled over due to red light: well, which part of mass ave do you want?

her: the 1000s.

me: *gulps*

biker: oh, you want to keep going up mem drive to that street light up there, turn left and it’ll intersect with mass ave. you might hit mt. auburn first, but keep going.

her: *looks at both of us* great. thank you!

me: *looks at biker* thank you!!!

i was grateful to be saved by someone who had a better sense of direction, but, truth be told, i was a bit bummed to have missed my walk signal at this very busy intersection, although, if the worst that came out of this is that i had to wait, i’d take it. i’d rather that than giving someone the wrong set of directions (which, despite the amount of time i’ve lived here, has happened. curse my lack of sense of direction!)

i’m speaking with strangers … here’s why.

during softball warm-ups, the ball bounced short of my glove and kept rolling…

past the bench…

past the sidewalk…

and into the street…

where the cars were racing by.

i dutifully hit the crosswalk button and waited for the traffic to clear…

and waited…

and waited.

a guy on the other side of the road noticed me in my bright orange team shirt and bent down to pick up the ball from where it lay quietly against the curb.

now it was his turn to wait until the traffic cleared. it did and i held my glove up signaling i was prepared for the throw.

he threw.

*BAM*

the ball smacked directly into the walk/don’t walk sign above my head.

i scrambled to grab the ball before it bounced back into the street. i gathered it up and waved my thanks as he bent his red cheeks and walked away.

he didn’t say anything, but i read all the words in his blush.

i’m conversing with strangers … here’s why.

him: you tired?

me: *after a beat* hmm? me? oh, yes. very. long day.

him: something something something work

me: *shakes brain awake* *attempts to decipher what he said over the beeping of the grocery items being scanned* *stares at him*

him: where do you work?

me: *thinks to self, didn’t we just establish i’m tired? and now you want to Talk?* *shakes brain awake, again* i work over at [redacted] in publishing.

him: that’s so cool. there are lots of smart people over there. i bet you’ve got a lot of books with all those ideas floating around over there.

me: [i’m not exactly sure what he said because it was full of soft spoken words and mumbles. i’m assuming it was something like that.] *thinks to self, OMG. is this what it’s like talking to me?* hmm, yeah.

him: i’m going to patent my idea for massaging shoes.

me: oh?

him: yeah.

me: is that because you stand on your feet all day?

him: yeah and there are some MIT kids who are starting something similar, so i’m working with a patent lawyer to get the idea as mine and then they can do all the work. i just want 40% of the profits. i’ve had that idea since i was 16.

me: *catches about every other word* oh?

him: and if that doesn’t work out, i’m going to go into nursing. that’s what my dad did.

me: my brother in law’s a doctor, so i know all about how much he values the nurses.

him: being a doctor is hard and too long.

me: that’s for sure. i don’t have the stomach for it. a nurse though, that’s very respectable.

him: yeah. i just don’t want to be here for too long, you know?

me: sure. you’re ambitious.

him: yeah. i’ve got that.

i swiped my card for payment as he packed up my groceries.

him: good luck with your publishing.

me: *stumbles over attempt to say good luck with your future attempts with nursing or patenting that shoe idea or wherever your ambition leads you.* good night.

it’s hard to hold a conversation when you’re tired and the person talking is quiet. it required more focus than i had at that moment, but boy, i promise to be better about not mumbling because that was a frustrating conversation full of mis-starts, missed words, and misunderstandings.

however, i am partial to the way he said goodbye. it’s like he was telling me good luck not with my day job, but with my dream.