"Here, let me help you," says a Greek man, about 30 years old, who I noticed walking near me, and must have witnessed the whole crime go down. "There's some on your back, too."
"Oh, thanks," I manage a courtesy laugh: "Haha. What a way to start the day, right?" I joke. I'm not mad. I mean, I guess it could be worse. And, I'm only on my way home, not off to a job interview or anything like that.
"Here," Greek guy says as he takes my used, dirty tissue, with snot inside and wipes the dirty bird goop off my shoulders, "let me help."
"Oh, thank you. That's nice of you. Thanks."
Should I feel uncomfortable right now? Or grateful? Weirded out at all? A stranger is brushing my shoulders.
"Do you have another one?"
Huh? Another dirty tissue? Yea - but do you really want to have it?
"Yea." I pull out a second used, dirty tissue from my pocket, and he takes it to wipe more green stuff off of my tainted jacket.
"Haha. Thanks, wow, that's a lot, huh?" How much poop can a bird possibly have inside of him? Aren't they small animals?
"It is good luck to have that."
"What?"
"It means good luck. You will have luck come to you now. Maybe with your boyfriend, your husband, or career."
"Sounds like someone just made that up to make positive out of this situation. Cuz there's really nothing pleasant about this." You know, like whoever said "It's not about whether you win or lose," obviously lost. And the guy who said "There are no small parts, only small actors," was clearly a five foot man playing Servant #4 in one of Shakespeare's tragedies.
Either way, I decide I could use some luck in those departments - who couldn't? "Well, I'll take the luck." I tell my new friend, as if this Greek guy is going to now offer me 3 wishes.
"Yes, it is a very good sign."
Now we're awkwardly walking side by side. I can't just take off ahead and speed away. He just used my dirty tissues to wipe bird poop off my shoulders for cryin' out loud. What a guy.
"So you go to school or work?" he says. As if this is all normal. The walking together. The bird poop. The tissues.
"Both. I work at a school. Yourself?"
"I work. I'm going there now."
"Cool." Ah-ha! The weather! Default stranger conversation starter. "It's cold out today, huh?"
"That is good for me."
"Oh?"
"I hope it snows. It's good for my business."
Wouldn't it be great if this story ended with him saying he was joking about the snow, and would I like to go with him to Greece and marry him and live happily ever after?
Only in a fantasy world. Where things like birds pooping on you doesn't exist. And neither does snow. Now, THAT, would be lucky.
We reach the end of our journey together.
"Good bye. Enjoy your luck."
"Good bye. Thanks for your help."
"Good bye. Thanks for your help."
I'm not sure why moments like this fascinate me. Maybe it's because I think there's something so special about strangers sharing genuine moments. That strangers can have genuine moments. Or maybe it's because growing up in a small suburban town, where everyone knows each other, you don't have these moments with strangers. Or maybe it's like in the movie "UP" when the little boy is reminiscing about eating icecream cones and counting red and blue cars on a curb with his dad and he says, "I know it sounds boring, but it's the boring simple stuff I miss."
These simple things fascinate me. The fact that a bird using you as his toilet supposedly brings good luck. The fact that a stranger doesn't mind helping you clean yourself off. And that these 3 minutes this morning have inspired me to write a blog.
So...here's to embracing random moments with random people. And making the most out of what could be bad day triggers. Here's to my good luck!
Oooh, a quarter on the ground! That is lucky!!! And I sign to take this jacket to the laundromat sooner rather than later.
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