Thursday, March 21, 2019
I took
the lightrail to a bus stop, where I had to wait awhile for a bus. That’s where
the weird thing happened. When I’m
traveling alone, I pay close attention to what’s going on around me. I was standing on the street corner with a few
other people (including a lady dressed like a cheetah). I knew who was around me. I looked left to see if the bus was
coming. I didn’t hear or see anyone
coming up on my right, but when I turned back around, a well-dressed older lady
had appeared right next to me. She didn’t
start with hi, hello, nice weather, or small talk of any kind. She just said something like, “What would it
take for people to feel safe and secure in this crazy world?” I was completely
taken aback. She looked like a normal,
nice lady, not crazy at all, but who comes up to a stranger at a bus stop and says
something like that, especially after appearing out of nowhere? But I knew the answer, so I said, “Jesus?” She seemed pleasantly surprised by my answer
and asked me if I was a Bible reader. I
said yes. Then she asked me if I thought
Jesus was a king and I said yes. She
quoted from Luke when the angel appeared to Mary and told her that her son
would be a king. She asked me if I
considered the new earth to be a government. I said I guess I hadn’t really
thought of it that way. She said, “Most people don’t. I think you would find
this interesting reading” and she whipped out a brochure and handed it to
me. She said her name was Sally, and I told
her my name, and we God blessed each other, and I watched her start to walk away. I looked down at the brochure she had given
me and when I looked back up two seconds later, she
was gone. She was just there, walking
down a long street, and there was nowhere she could have gone to disappear so
quickly. I even walked down the street
and looked for her, but she was nowhere to be found. The whole thing was
surreal. Then the bus arrived and I got
on, but I was so consumed with thinking about that encounter that I almost
missed my stop.
I went
to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and a couple other stores, didn’t buy
anything. Went to PetSmart to pet the
cats. Sat there and had a long conversation
with a foster cat mom. Then I saw a woman holding a tiny furry creature that looked
sort of like a dog, but it couldn’t possibly be, because it was smaller than a
kitten. I went up to her and said
something intelligent like, “what is that?” and she said, “It’s a teacup Pomeranian.
His name is Versace.” She said he
weighed 1.6 pounds and was full grown.
He was wearing a little vest that said “bad hombre” on it, which made me
laugh. On my way back to the bus stop,
somebody stopped me and asked me for money.
I didn’t give him any (I actually didn’t have any), but I talked to him
for a few minutes, which caused me to miss the bus. I knew it would be 30 minutes before the next
bus came, so I went into a shop called “World Market” or something like
that. It was a neat store, way too expensive
to buy anything, but I killed some time in there instead of waiting in the
direct sun at the bus stop. Took the bus
back to the lightrail and sat by this poor guy who had twins in a stroller in
front of him. They looked to be between
one and two years old and clearly in need of a nap. They were both unhappy and crying and
rejecting all his attempts to quiet them.
I was traveling light and didn’t really have anything interesting to offer
them, but I did have my stash of granola bars for homeless people, so I asked
him if I could give them one. He said
yes and they were distracted enough by the stranger giving them something with
crinkly paper on it that they stopped crying.
I got off the train at a different stop than I usually do, thinking I
could easily find my way back to the hotel, but no. I got pretty badly lost. But I ended up wandering in a cool part of
downtown and saw some interesting buildings, fountains, etc. I stumbled upon City Hall, which houses the
police museum. This is the site of the 1966 trial of Miranda vs. Arizona, which
is why police now have to read you your Miranda rights before questioning you.
Finally found my way back to the hotel. Mike and I went to dinner at The Copper
Blues, which was kind of a neat restaurant downtown. Saw a crazy guy stomping and flailing and yelling, "Stop following me!" and there was nobody around him. After dinner we came back to the hotel and took a little nap
before our next plan: dessert at the revolving restaurant at the top of our
hotel. On certain night, during limited
late night hours, they offer a happy hour menu, which is the only time regular
people can afford to set foot in there.
It was a cool experience!
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