You Never Know Who You're Going to Meet

Since it's Friday, and a very short one at that, I didn't feel like putting any kind of special effort into getting dressed this morning. So I threw on my usual denim skirt and pulled out my favorite sweatshirt - a crimson red, comfy, huge sweatshirt with the word "Alabama" across the front. Yes, yes, Roll Tide. (For those of you not conversant in Alabama politics, and yes I do mean politics, Roll Tide is the battle call for the University of Alabama football team.) I guess it's not such a common sight to see someone with an Alabama sweatshirt walking through the streets on Manhattan. But I have to say, it's not such a weird sight either, compared to a lot of the things I see. Anyway, that's the topic for a whole different discussion. So I'm walking down the street, listening to my I-Pod, and all of a sudden a man with a walker is standing in front of me, saying something to me, extremely excited. I turn off my I-pod so I can hear what he is saying, and I realize he is asking me about whether I am actually from Alabama. I reply to him that I am, from Birmingham. We tells me he is from Wetumpka, which is a tiny town outside the state capitol of Montgomery, which I have been to several times because the grandmother of my college roommate lived there. Well, it didn't stop there, because this man likes to talk, and is extremely friendly, though a bit on the inapropriate side. He asked me what I was doing in New York, wished me luck and showered me with flattery. He told me story after story about his elbow-rubbing with celebrities, which I am naive enough to believe, but cynical enough to have a grain of doubt in my head. But I guess you never know. He told me about his spoiled puppy, who sounds adorable. He asked me to leave my address at his building, so he can send me a "nice to meet you" card. He told me he is a photographer and wants to send me some kind of photo. All in all, it was a fun and amusing exchange. I guess the South really brings people together. I don't think you would see two random people from New York bump into each other and have such an exchange, no matter where in the world they met. I feel like if I had had more time to spend (I was late for work as it was), we could have found people in common that we knew - as it was, he told me at some point he lived in Birmingham in the neighborhood where all the Jews live (and he shared the same sentiments for that neighborhood as I do). You never know who you'll meet on a New York street. These exchanges certainly add color to my day. Have a good Shabbos!