aganthesk
Member
One day last summer, I was returning to Baltimore on my bicycle from a day excursion to DC. It was in the early evening right before sunset, and as I was passing through Elkridge, I encountered a group of 4 crusty-looking trainhoppers asking for directions on a busy intersection. They got my attention and asked me if I knew where a place called Patapsco Valley state park was. They said they were dropped off there by a taxi and weren't having any luck getting directions from the local people.
The serendipity of the encounter was quite interesting to me and I happened to know where they needed to go - since we were already right by the park, I decided to just walk and lead them to where they needed to go. I didn't say much about myself or did much of any talking, as I tend to be very shy in person, though I had been tempted to say things along the lines of my interest in their mode of living.
For some reason that I had forgotten about, I ended up splitting away from them midway through the the park. Later on, as I was biking home, a very powerful thunderstorm swept through, and was soaked cold and wet even before I finally got home. I thought about those hoppers, and I wound up feeling pretty lousy for not sticking around with them in the midst of the colossal thunderstorm. Adding to my underlying guilt, I wondered if they made it to the hop-out location safely - when they described it to me, I wasn't able to recall good directions on where exactly it was, though I ended up remembering the exact location (being pretty familiar with the park) after I got home, in hindsight.
Anyway, I thought it was an interesting experience, given the sheer probability of something like that happening.
The serendipity of the encounter was quite interesting to me and I happened to know where they needed to go - since we were already right by the park, I decided to just walk and lead them to where they needed to go. I didn't say much about myself or did much of any talking, as I tend to be very shy in person, though I had been tempted to say things along the lines of my interest in their mode of living.
For some reason that I had forgotten about, I ended up splitting away from them midway through the the park. Later on, as I was biking home, a very powerful thunderstorm swept through, and was soaked cold and wet even before I finally got home. I thought about those hoppers, and I wound up feeling pretty lousy for not sticking around with them in the midst of the colossal thunderstorm. Adding to my underlying guilt, I wondered if they made it to the hop-out location safely - when they described it to me, I wasn't able to recall good directions on where exactly it was, though I ended up remembering the exact location (being pretty familiar with the park) after I got home, in hindsight.
Anyway, I thought it was an interesting experience, given the sheer probability of something like that happening.
