"Why, yes, I would like a creepy adventure!"

I traveled to San Diego today for work-related reasons. Rather than take the $25 shuttle to the hotel, I inquired about mass transit, like a bus. I'd like to say that I wished to express my solidarity with the ordinary people, but no, I just wanted to see a bit of the town. Ironically, I arrived after sunset. I took the bus anyway. Let me start out by saying that San Diego is one of the friendliest towns I've visited. A teenager saw me looking in dismay at a schedule, asked me what bus I wanted, and when I explained that the bus I wanted appeared to have stopped running half an hour prior, he offered me good advice. That's happened to me in New York City, too. Yes—the same New York City that was founded on Manhattan Island. I managed to find a few nice people living there, and God Himself didn't manage to do that when he visited Sodom and/or Gomorrah (I forget which, and don't care to look it up, but hey I'm Catholic so it's a miracle I know any Bible stories anyway, right?). So New York City has that going for it, anyway.

Americans don't value mass transit enough. Where else could one witness the following conversation between an unshaven, ill-dressed man fifteen to twenty years my senior, and a well-groomed, fashionably dressed woman fifteen to twenty years my junior? I'll leave it to the reader to guess who says which words.

[after answering a question by the other] So you're on an adventure, eh?

A nod, and a nervous smile.

I don't know if you'd be interested, but I could accompany you on your adventure, and maybe make it more interesting…*

The smile sinks into an aghast expression. No, I'm not really up for that.

Yeah… (a shrug) I'm not either; I just thought I'd put it out there, and see what happened.

What answer did the guy expect? I didn't ask.

---

*To be honest, I'm not sure those were his exact words (it's been a couple of hours) but they're not far from them.