Interpret this, Sherman
01/16/2003

(Tone: whimsical, lighthearted.)

I don't believe in coincidences. The confusing part is that I don't really believe in fate either.

I have not been riding my bike recently, mostly out of laziness. This morning, I realized 10 minutes before my bus would arrive at the stop that I did not have enough change for the bus. I thought about knocking on Shelley's door to see if she was awake, but at the last minute, I decided that clearly, I was supposed to ride my bike today. Who knew why. So I did, and ran into Todd in the corner of Masonic and Oak, where he would not be for more than a minute, probably. He was on his bike, waiting for the light to change.

(How are you? Good. Busy. New jacket? Yep. Christmas gift? To myself. It's really nice. It's perfect for biking. A little warm, but still great. Did grad school start already? No. It starts on the 27th, I think. How many classes are you teaching? Three. AND you'll be going to grad school? Yes. WOW, guess I'll see you in June. Yeah, if we don't get together before school starts, this is it, dude. We should hang out before then; I'll call you. Sure you will. See ya.)

The question is, if nothing meaningful happens on my way back from work, and I had to ride my bike merely for that chance morning interaction in the corner, I wonder what we got out of that brief conversation that HAD to happen.

Maybe he just had to appreciate my new Patagonia jacket.

"I believe in coincidence, but I also believe in interpreting coincidence exactly the way you want to interpret it." -- Sherman Alexie, in an interview