Thursday, September 25, 2008
Met the weirdest guy today. I had errands to do, and stopped at Wal-Mart (shudder) to pick up some things. I had stopped in the baking aisle, contemplating a little Pastry Therapy, when he stopped at a shelf near me and struck up a conversation. "German Chocolate Cake sounds good! What time should I be over?" We had a chuckle and I went on my way.
As I was leaving the store, he was just checking out, too, and stopped me again, and introduced himself. Never actually came onto me, or asked me to meet him somewhere... and my alarms weren't going off saying he was a threat in any way. He was just being friendly. "You know, sometimes you just see a person and feel compelled to chat with them," he said, "and I rarely do. We're all so darned busy all the time and we just breeze by one another like nobody else exists." He asked my name and then inquired about the nationality of that name, wanted to know if my family had any traditions from our heritage, or if I cooked any special family dishes. I revealed my profession, which led to my revealing that I was unemployed at the moment but thinking of opening my own business. "Be careful," he warned, "Your friends will always be supportive, but in the lean times when it's cash you need, they won't be able to help you. That's why having capital up front is so important."
And how did he know I was having capital issues? Well, I suppose it's not a stretch: out of work, shopping at Wally World. Still, it's weird to have a stranger come to you out of nowhere like that. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, "OK, this is one of those Oprah Moments--the question is, is it a Good Oprah Moment with some positive-thinking guru talking about miracle meetings of people who were able to help each other and make a differnece in each other's lives, or is it a Bad Oprah Moment with Gavin DeBecker pointing out all the signals I missed that I was about to be abducted and murdered by a Traveling Hatchet Killer.
Neither, it seems. He thanked me for the chat and went on his way, all of my purchases still in tact, nothing missing or gone awry.
As I was leaving the store, he was just checking out, too, and stopped me again, and introduced himself. Never actually came onto me, or asked me to meet him somewhere... and my alarms weren't going off saying he was a threat in any way. He was just being friendly. "You know, sometimes you just see a person and feel compelled to chat with them," he said, "and I rarely do. We're all so darned busy all the time and we just breeze by one another like nobody else exists." He asked my name and then inquired about the nationality of that name, wanted to know if my family had any traditions from our heritage, or if I cooked any special family dishes. I revealed my profession, which led to my revealing that I was unemployed at the moment but thinking of opening my own business. "Be careful," he warned, "Your friends will always be supportive, but in the lean times when it's cash you need, they won't be able to help you. That's why having capital up front is so important."
And how did he know I was having capital issues? Well, I suppose it's not a stretch: out of work, shopping at Wally World. Still, it's weird to have a stranger come to you out of nowhere like that. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, "OK, this is one of those Oprah Moments--the question is, is it a Good Oprah Moment with some positive-thinking guru talking about miracle meetings of people who were able to help each other and make a differnece in each other's lives, or is it a Bad Oprah Moment with Gavin DeBecker pointing out all the signals I missed that I was about to be abducted and murdered by a Traveling Hatchet Killer.
Neither, it seems. He thanked me for the chat and went on his way, all of my purchases still in tact, nothing missing or gone awry.
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