And a little funny on me!

Last week I was in Portland and needed to run to the grocery store to get some supplies for Richard. It’s a real simple journey. Richard is at 46^th & Hoyt and there is a Fred Meyer at 67^th & Glisan. Glisan and Hoyt are one block apart. So, you head up Hoyt to 47^th, turn right and then turn left on Glisan and speed out to 67^th. Half wits can navigate this with no problem.

Now, there were extenuating circumstances. There was construction going on (building construction) that was causing some headaches on Glisan, I could see where the problem was. The solution was simple. Instead of turning left on Glisan, I could just continue gaily forward (sorry, I don’t do straight ahead) on 47^th Street, take a left on the next street and just circumvent this entire nightmare. However, I was sitting in the left turn lane, but when the car ahead of me darted ahead on 47^th, I followed suit. I kind of thought he knew what he was doing. He didn’t turn left on the first street. I was nervous that I was following another out-of-towner until I glanced down that street and it was obvious that it didn’t go through.

Second street, same story.

Third street he turned left. I followed. Nice street that looked like it went all the way to 82^nd. I don’t know that for sure, but it had all the earmarks.

He didn’t turn back to Glisan at 48^th Street. I checked. It didn’t go through. Same with 49^th. I trusted this dude with my dignity. He was totally cool! When he finally turned left, back to Glisan, I followed, knowing he was leading me back to my goal.

Okay, this leads to the obvious question of, “What is the socially acceptable thing to say to a complete stranger after you have followed him into his driveway?”

a.       Jump out of the car and ask, “What’s for lunch?”

b.      Jump out of the car and ask, “Hey, sailor boy, want to spend some time?”

c.       Avoid eye contact, shift the car into reverse and speed away as quickly as possible.