Law of averages, chaos theory, kismet --however you may explain it-- it still blows my mind when you casually bump into someone from your past in the streets of New York. I always think about the 8 million people and 8 zillion possibilities, all the split seconds that had to come together to put myself and (whomever) in the same spot simultaneously. Sometimes for kicks I try to pinpoint the specific occurrence that put me in, or on, the other person's path; track backward for the event that would support chaos vs. fate, find the butterfly flapping its wings if you will. You know, like, If my shoelace hadn't become untied I wouldn't have stopped to tie it, which put me a few seconds behind where I would have been on the sidewalk, which made it so I missed instead of made the light at the crosswalk, which put me in the path of a guy walking with a guitar, which reminded me I need guitar strings, which sent me on a detour to the music store where I ran into my first grade music teacher here on vacation. That kind of thing.
So after having pinpointed this particular fateful morning's butterfly, I'd like to give a big shout out to the MTA who stranded a train-load of us underground at the Bedford stop this morning, which made me fifteen minutes late for my transfer, and as it happened, on the platform just in time to bump into my psychotic, abusive ex-boyfriend, the one who had given up stalking me due to his belief I had moved out of town.
Now he knows I'm living in New York. Thanks for clearing that up for him, MTA.
Posted by Antigeist at January 9, 2004 04:31 PM