We (both women, if that matters) were house sitting for my bosses one year in their really cute walkable neighborhood. We liked going for walks to the downtown area of this neighborhood which was only a few blocks away but across a highway. For some reason, the first day that we crossed the highway we decided to run across. I suppose because we didn't know how long we had to cross and it was several lanes wide.
For the rest of that trip, every time we crossed the highway we would hold hands and run and end up laughing our asses off. It just made us feel free to run uninhibited like that. Lots of times, there would be other people just walking across near us. We probably looked like crazy people running past them. By this point, we knew that it wasn't necessary to run across the crosswalk, but it just seemed like more fun to do it this way. So now every time we need to use a button to cross a crosswalk, we look at each other knowingly grab each other's hands and run across laughing and squealing.
I like having some little rituals that are kind of secret between the two of us. It just makes life more fun.
This is a long shot, but I've carried this with me for a few years and have always wondered about the person involved.
In 2023 or 2024, at a place I worked in South Waterfront, a group came in that appeared to be out on an assisted community outing. One man caught my attention because he was speaking loudly and intensely enough that, at first, I thought he was arguing with someone.
Then I realized he was looking at his own reflection in our large mirror across the room.
As he walked toward it, I realized he was repeating the same phrase to himself over and over:
"What a dirty, disgusting, horrible monster."
His voice was so intense that I first braced myself, afraid a fight was about to break out in my workplace. Then my fear turned into immense compassion when I realized he was talking to himself. I've thought about him a lot since then.
I don't know anything else. The group bought their coffee and left. I wanted to say something at the time, but it didn't feel like my place, so I stayed silent. I don't know if anyone reading this will recognize this story. But if you do, I just want you to know that as a stranger, I never saw a monster. I saw someone who seemed to be carrying an incredible amount of pain.
If this sounds familiar to anyone, please wish him well for me.
This is a long shot, but I've carried this with me for a few years and have always wondered about the person involved.
In 2023 or 2024, at a place I worked in South Waterfront, a group came in that appeared to be out on an assisted community outing. One man caught my attention because he was speaking loudly and intensely enough that, at first, I thought he was arguing with someone.
Then I realized he was looking at his own reflection in our large mirror across the room.
As he walked toward it, I realized he was repeating the same phrase to himself over and over: "What a dirty, disgusting, monster." (or something very close to that.)
His voice was so intense that I first braced myself, afraid a fight was about to break out in my workplace. Then my fear turned into immense compassion when I realized he was talking to himself. I've thought about him a lot since then.
I don't know anything else. The group bought their coffee and left. I wanted to say something at the time, but it didn't feel like my place, so I stayed silent. I don't know if anyone reading this will recognize this story. But if you do, I just want you to know that as a stranger, I never saw a monster. I saw someone who seemed to be carrying an incredible amount of pain.
If this sounds familiar to anyone, please wish him well for me.
She says she heard it in my car, and it was a grown-up song, not a kid song. We usually listen to current pop, Olivia, Sabrina, Taylor, Charlie Puth, Shawn Mendes. I'll try to post the clip in the comments.