Tag: boston

i’m talking to strangers?! yes indeedy.

before meeting up with a few fellow single ladies for a low key birthday celebration, i ran a couple of errands.

me: i’m picking up a prescription for mumford. *spells name*

him: first name?

me: abigail.

him: date of birth.

me: january 8.

him: *types into computer* *pauses* *looks up* happy birthday.

me: thank you!

him: it took me a minute to connect the dots.

he grabbed my prescription as i marveled at his ingenuity. granted, it wasn’t that difficult to realize it was my birthday given i had just told him my date of birth, but i’m often surprised when others (say a bartender with my license in hand) overlook it.

it was a small comment, but him connecting the dots put some frosting on otherwise boring errands.

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

i dashed into PSB, my mecca, on a brief lunch break. after finding the book i needed (okay, wanted) in record time, i proceeded to wait in the “last days before christmas” long line.

her: i can help you over here.

me: *goes to far side of cash register* *hands over book*

her: *switches to near side of cash register*

me: oh, sorry.

her: don’t worry about it. are you part of our frequent buyer program?

me: sure am. *spells last name* *moves belongings over to near side of register*

her: abigail?

me: yup.

her: from twitter?

me: *eyebrows raised*

her: we have some friends in common, @letterandline and @adicloud. i’m sarah.

me: oh, hi!

her: *tells me the total*

me: *pays* *grabs book* have a good one, sarah.

i had a vague feeling i’d heard about her before when gabbing online with the aforementioned ladies about bookstores and readings and the like, but unfortunately, the caffeine i’d gulped down in too large quantities that morning didn’t leave me with the attention span to do anything other than revel in how famous i felt as i jitterbugged back to my car.

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.