Walking home, I saw a void kitty sitting on a windowsill. I felt sorry for it as it is cold and damp and kitty's fur was beaded with water. But then he (I think) banged on the window with a paw. It opened and he vanished inside shaking the water off his feet. It made me happy.

I've been friends with a guy for about three years now, but the other night we had what felt like our first long, deep, one-on-one conversation and it felt really nice. We've also been getting more tactile, and I love touch in general so I'm all for it, but it feels good to be moving in that kind of direction (ideally I would be able to freely cuddle with all my friends, with their consent of course). I like being his friend. It makes me happy.

So this happened earlier this morning, and I just wanted to share it somewhere because I can’t stop thinking about it lol.

I was heading to work at around 4:30 AM. My job site is about 20 minutes from my house, and just as I’m about to exit the freeway, I realize I FORGOT MY WORK BOOTS. 😭In a panic, I check my backseat, hoping that maybe, just maybe, I left them there. Nope.

So I call my mom, tell her what happened, and turn around to head back home. At this point, I’m already going to be late, and I notice I’m also running low on gas. I figured, well, I’m already late, might as well fill up. Mind you, I had enough gas to make it to work, so stopping wasn’t exactly necessary.

I pass a gas station on my way home and briefly consider stopping, but decide I’ll just get gas after picking up my boots.

I finally get home, my mom hands me my boots, and I’m back on the road.

I pull into the gas station, and as I’m filling up, an older gentleman, probably in his late 60s or early 70s, starts approaching me. Immediately, I put my guard up because I assume he’s either going to ask me for money or try to sell me something.

Instead, he says, “I’m trying to get to the 15.”

And I’m just standing there like… what? 😭

Mind you, it’s ridiculously early, I’m barely functioning, and I’m already having a pretty annoying morning because of the whole work boots situation.

Then it finally clicks.

“Ohhh, okay! Well, you’re going to want to get on the 210.”
He asks, “Heading east, right?”
And I’m like, “Uhhhh…”

I literally look toward the mountains north of us because that’s how I figure out which direction is north. 💀
I point to my right. “Yes!”

I proceed to tell him, “From there, you’ll take the 57, then the 71, then the 91, and eventually you’ll reach the 15.”
I actually know this route pretty well because I used to drive it regularly when I attended UCSD and would come home to visit my parents on the weekends.

But he looks a little overwhelmed.

Then he asks, “What about the 605?”
I tell him, “Well, that’ll eventually take you toward the 5, so probably not.”

Then he asks, “What about the 10?”

At this point, I pull out my phone, open Apple Maps, and realize that yes, he could actually take the 10!

So I tell him, “Okay, yeah! You can take the 210, then the 57, then the 10, and eventually you’ll hit the 15.”

He repeats it back to me.
“210, 57, 10, 15.”
“Yes! Exactly!”

He thanks me, gets into his car, and drives off.

And that was that.

I finish getting gas and head back to work.

But as I’m driving, a thought suddenly crosses my mind.

I should’ve asked for his phone number.

Not for any weird reason, obviously. 😭

But because now I’m genuinely wondering whether this older gentleman, who was apparently navigating SoCal freeways at 5 in the morning, actually made it onto the 15.

And then I started thinking about how none of this interaction would’ve happened if I hadn’t forgotten my work boots. Or if I’d stopped for gas earlier. Or if I’d decided to just make it to work with the gas I already had.

Just a bunch of little inconveniences that somehow led to this random encounter with a complete stranger.
It’s such a small, insignificant interaction in the grand scheme of things, but for some reason, it stuck with me.
I don’t know where he was going, why he was traveling so early, or whether he ever found the freeway he was looking for.

I just hope he made it to wherever he needed to be.
And if you’re out there, sir, I really hope you found the 15. 😭