On the street

Three times this afternoon I ran into someone I knew on the street: one current co-worker and two former co-workers. Two of them live in my neighborhood but I haven't seen them around in months and months. The other was at Bed Bath & Beyond in Manhattan, and when she asked where I lived and I said, "Brooklyn," she expressed surprise that I had come into Manhattan just to shop. Seriously, now, it's Brooklyn, not Boston. It's even possible my subway ride to BB&B is shorter than hers, since I live right on the very same F line and she comes from somewhere on the upper east side, complete with transfers and walking. Sigh.

But three different people!

So there is some kind of weird karma around me today. But I also was crossing the street and a strange man punched me in the arm. He appeared to be drunk or crazy or something, and I kept walking past him but turned around when I reached the curb and he was at the other curb, staring back at me and swaying unsteadily on his feet, so I just kept walking away. Because what do you do in that situation? Engage him and drive him to real violence? Ignore him?

I don't know.