Category: convos with strangers

i’m talking to strangers?! what in the world?! here’s why.

i finished a round of me vs. the dust bunnies. i won.

then i tackled all the other cleaning things because i had friends coming to town and, yeah, no need for them to see dirty floors, crumbs, or sticky counters.

i won that battle too.

the last round consisted of me carrying two trash bags, one brown bag of recyclables, a shoebox, a salad container, plus an empty quart of milk out back to the garbage and recycling cans. with my keys in one hand, i was balancing everything in the other and had to make use of my chin to keep everything from toppling.

then i realized i had to close the front door behind me.

adjusting my position one miniscule movement at a time, i angled myself back to the door and took another 3 minutes to turn back to face the stairs.

a young college student did a double take as he took in my precarious position.

him: you need help?

me: oh, thank you. no, i think i’ve got it.

the truth was, i figured if i renegotiated my hold on things, i would have lost it all, so best not to accept his help. he left with a smile and i was left dazzled by the kindness of this stranger.

talking to strangers? here’s why.

i had just settled into the hard plastic seat when the mechanic stuck his head into the waiting room.

him: you don’t have the chrysler anymore?

me: *thinks, first car was the performance edition, chrysler. second, current car, is cirrus, chyrsler* *pokes head into garage* *sees shiny chrysler logo on the side of the car facing us* *points to it* that is the chrysler.

him: oh. right. i thought it was a dodge neon.

me: *smiles* *thinks, a mechanic not recognizing a car? isn’t that like my hair dresser asking me if my hair color is real? (it is)* *wonders if i could get a discount for being so smart* *settles back in to wait*

20 minutes later.

him: abigail, your car is all set. that’ll be $$$$$.

me: *sighs* thanks.

him: i didn’t realize your car was a ’99.

me: yup. it is.

him: you’ve got really low mileage on it.

me: before me, it was owned by a family friend’s grandmother, and i probably drive it as much as she did.

him: it’s got some pep in it. when i drove it out [of the garage], it zoomed.

me: *smiles* *thinks, if you thought this car had pep, you should have seen the performance edition* *pour one out for the performance edition. what a great car that was!*

him: well, just keep doing what you’re doing and this should last you 150K to 200K miles.

me: at the rate i’m going (it has 53K miles on it), i’ll have this car until i’m retired.

him: not a bad idea. you have a good night.

me: thanks. you too.

and with that, i (the one who graduated high school in ’99) walked over to my freshly oiled car (who was born in ’99) and drove off into the sunset. seriously. it appears we’re going to have a long life together.