Simple Stories.

So I met this guy today named Neil. He goes to NJIT and apparently has gone both skydiving and rock climbing in the past two weeks alone. Now I can't say my life is quite as exciting, but I've realized that some simple stories that pervade my daily life are all that I need. Need for what, I'm not sure - to be happy? to learn? to become a better person? Regardless, I'll share them with you.

Story 1: Today while I was on the bus weaving through the streets of Jersey City, I was staring out my window as I always do when I noticed this guy walking down the street. He was dressed in ripped jeans and a wife-beater, stringy sort of brown hair, bandanna, I suppose you know the type. Anyways, as he strutted (this is really the most accurate word for it) down the street he suddenly stopped in front of a phone booth. He then stuck his hand inside and started rummaging around every nook and cranny, searching for loose change...interesting. A bit cheap, I think. Anyways, a couple of minutes later I got off the bus and was walking towards the light-rail station. There was a woman walking really quickly a few feet in front of me and as she swung her purse over her shoulder, a really nice jeweled bracelet fell onto the sidewalk. A second later, another woman who had been walking past her at the moment picked up the bracelet and yelled out, "Miss! You dropped your bracelet!" and returned it to the first lady, who thanked her graciously. Seeing the first guy stick his hand around in the phone booth kind of made me sad, but I think the bracelet incident put my faith back into humanity.

Story 2: In the Skyscraper exhibit, there's this place where you can build cities out of foam blocks. Someone who had been there earlier had left a little skyscraper that he or she made. As a little girl and her father walked by, the little girl ran up to the skyscraper and knocked it down, spilling the blocks everywhere. The father got really angry, and I mean like red-face, lightening-in-eyes, spitting-lips angry and yelled, "Clean that up!" The girl took one look at him...and ran away. It was the oddest thing. There are a bunch of stands and glass cases and signs throughout the exhibit, and the girl just ran off and started hiding behind them and ziz-zagging through them...like kids don't normally run away from their parents like that. But it got even stranger when the father ran after her and then...caught her. I wasn't watching the whole thing carefully and I couldn't see their full bodies because a sign was in the way but from where I was and what I saw, I honestly think the dad grabbed her by the hair when he caught her. And that just really scared me. I know I sound like such a creeper but I honestly followed that dad around for the next five minutes just to make sure he wasn't some weird abusive person...nothing happened though. Not sure what to make of this story...

Story 3: So the guy I mentioned earlier, Neil, was a really chill guy and I talked to him for about an hour straight cause it was at the end of the day and not many people were in the Communication exhibit, which is where we were both assigned. Anyways, we talked about the Newport Mall, which led to the Menlo Park Mall, which led to East Brunswick, which led to his ex-girlfriend, who lives in Edison. And he told me about how they dated from since they were 15 until they were 20. And that after they broke up he didn't know how to "talk to girls" anymore because "she was all he ever knew." It made me sad...it was an enlightening conversation though.

Story 4: I went running with Jay. Here's a general gist of how it went:

Me: *makes fun of Jay about something, probably his face*

Jay: I bet you stay up late every night just thinking up comebacks to use for the perfect opportunities.

Me: Or maybe my comebacks are just so good that you would think I'd need a lot of time to come up with them!

Jay: Like that!!!

Me: STOP MAKING ME LAUGH I CAN'T RUN LIKE THIS.

So overall, uneventful but quite pleasant day.