human interaction for the day
Walking home through a drinking district in the evening, a middle-aged man on a bicycle was coming toward me, and then stopped right in front of me. I thought I was in his way or something and started to go around him, but noticed him saying something to me and took one of my headphones out.
Random man: Do you know how to get to blahblahblah from here?
Me: Sorry, I'm not sure.
R: What about the blahblahblah zoo area?
M: Oh, the zoo. If you take this street left and then go up the mountain, you should get there. Actually, you might even be able to take this street as long as you go up and stay generally to the left... they should be the same, I'm not entirely sure... rambleramble
R: Umm--
M: Oh, sorry. I am really not that sure..
R: You know, you have a very nice voice. It's very reassuring.
M: Well, you shouldn't trust me too much because my sense of direction is not great.
R: But really, it's very reassuring. You must be an interpreter or something... your voice has that quality. What do you do?
M: Oh, well, I do interpret...
R: What do you say! Blahblahblah. Are you Japanese, then?
M: ...actually, I'm not. I'm from America.
R: Oh, wow! I've been to America and China and blahblahblah and I have a friend whose wife is Canadian and had her teach me some English blahblahblah I'm really glad I met you! I wanted a friend like you!
M: ...oh, that's nice.
...and this continued for a while. He was not creepy or drunk-seeming, but considering how talkative he was he may have been. Near the end he transitioned into how cool it is that I can speak Chinese and how he learned some Chinese and that he wanted me to speak English with him informally and that he'd take me out for a meal in Chinatown. And again with the let's be friends! I'm so happy.
I had my cell phone in my hand (arghhh) so he told me to dial his number and that I should feel free to call him. Before he left he asked me whether I had time tonight -- and this is where I was finally collected enough to lie and say I was busy.
What was that?