lindsayliveshere.org

Sometimes I think strangers have the answers. Did you ever play those late-80s computer games that involved some kind of quest? You entered your DOS command and launched into a world navigated via arrow keys, with scritchy graphics and a tinny soundtrack. These games always seemed to involve interrogating random strangers. Look at that knight standing innocently by the stable! Let’s ask him for a clue to the treasure! And then you had to ask your question four ways until he finally gave you your clue. (Ok, maybe I was just a dork and no one else played these things.)

Anyways, sometimes I try to navigate reality that way. This morning, the almost toothless African American man who hands me my free newspaper at the Metro looked at me and declared: “You’re in good spirits. You’re going to be all right today.” And I felt like he knew something I didn’t.

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One hour later: I just realized I left my lunch on the Metro. Hmm. Is that part of the game too? (Ok. I’m beginning to see how easy it is to become insane by picking a game/t.v. show/movie and thinking you’re in it.)

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UPDATE 9/20: At the Metro this morning, as a visibly pregnant woman in overalls walked by, the man who hands out free newspaper greeted her and said: “That’s a baby boy; that’s gonna be a baby boy.”

See? He knows things.