Thursday, July 17, 2003
Can I Get Some Odds On That, Please?
Antioch has kind of messed up how I look at people aesthetically, particularly females. There's kind of an Antioch female look that doesn't have a male counterpart. Short, with short dyed hair. Piercings and tattoos. Thrift/vintage store clothing. Bandanas, often. I think there's also a poise thing, but haven't pinned it down yet. Anyway, I'll see someone randomly who kind of fits that, and I'll think "that looks like an Interesting Person."
This can lead to some strange things happening. Last year, when I was in Chicago, I saw a girl who fit the description walk by my office, and go talk to my boss. Being in the big city, and seeing females who did things like wear "make-up" and have "long hair." So she caught my eye in a pretty big way. Eventually, I walked by the boss's office, and he invited me in to meet . . . a former Antioch student who had held the job the year before.
Last night, I was walking down the street after movie night, and spotted a short girl, with dyed streaky hair, and punky clothing coming the other way down the street. I kind of smiled, and continued walking. And looking at her. And she was looking at me. Eyes narrowing, we stopped, and she asked "You go to Antioch, right?"
I'd like to calculate some odds on this happening. It was perhaps around 10:30 at night. Middle of Center City, where I live. She lives in West Philly. I only knew of one other Antioch student in the area. Ironically, that other student e-mailed me for the first time that very day. So having gone two and a half months without talking to another current Antioch student, in the same day, I get contacted by two? And one of those is walking down the same street and making eye contact. I'm guessing one in a couple billion. A lot of couple billion.
And have you ever had one of those weeks where weird coincidental stuff keeps on happening? A few days ago, there was the whole concert/t-shirt thing completely out of the blue. Then this. I've had weeks like this before.
Antioch has kind of messed up how I look at people aesthetically, particularly females. There's kind of an Antioch female look that doesn't have a male counterpart. Short, with short dyed hair. Piercings and tattoos. Thrift/vintage store clothing. Bandanas, often. I think there's also a poise thing, but haven't pinned it down yet. Anyway, I'll see someone randomly who kind of fits that, and I'll think "that looks like an Interesting Person."
This can lead to some strange things happening. Last year, when I was in Chicago, I saw a girl who fit the description walk by my office, and go talk to my boss. Being in the big city, and seeing females who did things like wear "make-up" and have "long hair." So she caught my eye in a pretty big way. Eventually, I walked by the boss's office, and he invited me in to meet . . . a former Antioch student who had held the job the year before.
Last night, I was walking down the street after movie night, and spotted a short girl, with dyed streaky hair, and punky clothing coming the other way down the street. I kind of smiled, and continued walking. And looking at her. And she was looking at me. Eyes narrowing, we stopped, and she asked "You go to Antioch, right?"
I'd like to calculate some odds on this happening. It was perhaps around 10:30 at night. Middle of Center City, where I live. She lives in West Philly. I only knew of one other Antioch student in the area. Ironically, that other student e-mailed me for the first time that very day. So having gone two and a half months without talking to another current Antioch student, in the same day, I get contacted by two? And one of those is walking down the same street and making eye contact. I'm guessing one in a couple billion. A lot of couple billion.
And have you ever had one of those weeks where weird coincidental stuff keeps on happening? A few days ago, there was the whole concert/t-shirt thing completely out of the blue. Then this. I've had weeks like this before.