Sidewalk Mementos
I love people. I love being around people, meeting new people, making new friends, catching up with old friends. I love organizing opportunities for old friends to see each other both in nostalgic as well as new and creative ways. I love stepping into new communities to explore spaces of people I haven’t spent much time with. I love meeting folks one-on-one and connecting on an intimate level just as much as spending a day with a crowd of new acquaintances. I love spending a whole day with someone but also really appreciate getting to say hi for just a minute.
The most rewarding resolution I’ve made over the past year has been the decision to chat with more strangers. Below are a few of those exchanges that I enjoyed.
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A lady at the park tosses a bag of cookie crumbs into one of the garden beds —
“Are those for me?”
“Are you a bird?”
“I don’t fly…”
She offers me a pinch of crumble. It’s good, some would say too good for birds. But she likes the birds and I respect that. There’s no birds in sight, just a theoretical flock some time in the future that is going to lose its shit in revery thanks to this woman. Shoutout her. She works a thankless job so I thank her —
“Your birds are gonna love this”
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There’s an old tire in the parking lot with the taco truck. One of my favorite bits is to pick it up and offer it to whoever’s near —
“This must be yours”
A little man in his 30s with a faceful of burrito comes to inspect
“I’m good man, you can keep it”
We decide to roll it along for a block to see if we can get anyone else to take it. He tells me he has back problems, his name is David, and he lives with his mom. She makes really good Mexican food. I jokingly ask if I can come over and try it. He jokingly says sure. In that moment we were friends, friends enough that the offer held some weight. If I’d asked for his number we really might’ve done dinner together with his family later that week. I still regret not doing so.
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There’s a women picking fruit off a tree. I approach her —
“What are those, can you eat those?” As an ex-landscaper I recognize it as a strawberry fruit tree, with pulpy littles scarlet berrys that are decidedly *not* good eating.
“It’s a strawberry fruit tree, they’re delicious! Try one!” Another lady joins in and shares her experience:
“Wow I didn’t know you could eat these, they’re great!”
I oblige and sample one, wondering if I’d missed something in the past. Then I eat 3 or 4 more, wondering if I’m missing something in the present. They still taste dreadful – mealy, bitter, really not sweet or meaningfully flavorful at all, but I lie:
“You could totally make jam outta these!”
Maybe I’m crazy and strawberry tree fruit are actually good to eat. I think people just get excited to eat things they find.
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The person on the train next to me has cool personal style. I pull up a faux-leater black button-up I’ve been perusing on Depop —
“Whaddya think, should I go for it”
They glance over disinterestedly. I don’t blame them, the seller did a crappy job photographing this thing, it looks terrible.
“I dunno do you want it?”
“mm I’m not sure, I don’t have anything like it”
They return to looking out the window. 2 stops later they get up to go and without looking, assert —
“It’s $5. Why not”
So I did. Now I own it and I like it.
