Minneapolis Moment

I've lived here all my life. There have been a few odd months where I've attempted to escape, but really those were just glorified vacations, and I can't really say I've lived anywhere else. This is my home. And over the course of my 35 years in this place, I've spent a good deal of them bitching about how incestuous it can be. How you can't leave the house without running into at least one person you know, and usually several. But lately, I've been gradually getting accustomed to this, and secretly, I might even find it a bit charming. Unlike a small town, you're not exactly guaranteed to bump into anyone at all, even though you probably will, but it's kind of a fun to surprise to see who it might turn out to be today. 

Today I was having lunch alone on the patio of a new restaurant I haven't tried before. (It was great, by the way, and I'd highly recommend it.) I have lunch, and dinner, on patios several times a week, an exercise I very much enjoy as a DINK. And even though I've begun spending a day at a time with my baby niece, I still want to dine on patios. I like it, okay? I love it. And as it turns out, the baby doesn't mind if I have a glass of wine or two. Really, she doesn't. 

So anyway, I was having this lunch, and down the sidewalk came zipping a guy on a hoveround style wheelchair. The same guy, it turns out, who came zipping down the sidewalk on that riding wheelchair just last week when I was dining with my niece. He had approached our table, and I brushed him off with much ablomb. Even though I have a pretty high tolerance for strangers and eccentric types on an average day, I don't like it when they approach when the baby is near. I think this is reasonable. 

After he drove off that day, I figured out that he was only asking for a bit of spare change for his family (he had a pretty severe speech impediment,) and then I felt badly. 

Today, when he came zipping down the sidewalk, I had my money at the ready. This is not some self-congratulatory pat on the back (I gave him a whopping $2 as I enjoyed my $30 lunch). It is, however, a moment of gratitude towards my tiny, charming city, where it's easy to enjoy second chances.