Monday, January 23, 2012

Good, old-fashioned friendliness.

I love College Ave. It's always so bright and wonderful and full of pleasant people. Take today, for instance.

I didn't pack a lunch this morning, so I stopped by Cupz after Latin to see what I could find. What I found was a rather tasty bagel sandwich (though I should've gone with the plain instead of the wheat) and some good-humored teasing about the frayed state of the hems on my jeans.

Then, I met two very friendly women when I went into that little boutique on the corner to buy new Toms. They kindly waded through their new shipment, which was slowly eating the store, to find me the right size and color (7 and a half, chocolate).


On my way back to sit and wait for my German class, two of those scruffy guitar players who like to frequent College asked me if I had any change. Strangers on the street asking for change is always awkward, but I generally try to be as polite as possible, so instead of ignoring them, I told them I didn't have any change (truth) and that I was sorry. Then, the one of the left said, "Don't be sorry. Be silly. Life's much more fun that way." And then the one on the right asked me if I had a cigarette. That may be the first time in my life that someone has asked me that. I, of course, had to apologize again because, as a non-smoker, I didn't have any. "I'm sorry," I said, "I'm useless to you," referring to my utter lack of both spare change and cigarettes. "No, you're not," the one on the right replied. "You bring beauty into the world."

Listening to: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Reading: The Iliad

3 comments:

  1. Can't well argue with his logic.

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  2. In which city did you see these characters? I think I just saw the same people at a gas station in Lansing, Michigan. He said the same phrase and it caught me completely off guard. So much so that I had to look up the phrase and came to your page.

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