Locked out

Laura and I spent the afternoon in the city looking for shoes that would go with her wedding dress. I don't know if it's the influence of Sex and the City, but women's shoes sure are going through a tacky phase. Everything is so pointy, it's like women are forced to walk around wearing weapons on their feet. Worse still, pointy shoes make a woman's feet look nearly twice as big as they really are. Pointy. Big. Watching a group of them walk by is like watching a herd of ninja ducks.

After weeks of looking, we found the perfect pair at Nordstrom's. After celebrating over Fluorescent Orange Chicken at Panda Express, it was time to get on with the day. I had work to do, and Laura was headed down to San Mateo to visit some friends of ours (happy birthday, Grant!).

So I'm on BART, about to get off at my station after a 30 minute ride back from San Francisco. As I reach for my BART ticket, I notice my pocket is awfully light. ...I don't have my keys. I left them in Laura's car. Being a typical city-boy, I only know my neighbors by their distinctive nods. The woman upstairs nods hello only when she's sure I've seen her see me. Otherwise she scurries past like the wind. The guy across the hall from me, when I run into him, gives me a stoned nod - it takes just a few seconds too long to go up and down again, and sometimes he does it cross-eyed. The thug at the other end of the hall usually gives me the thug nod - his chin goes up, but it doesn't come down until I back away. Slowly.

Since I only know them by their nods, I can't very well hang out with them until Laura gets back with my keys. So I walked 3 miles to the nearest Apple Store, where I can check my e-mail as a line of people breathe down my neck, waiting their turn to use the beautiful 17 inch Powerbook I've bogarted. I haven't made any real friends in my apartment, but I just finished responding to an e-friend from Stuttgart, Germany, and another from Georgia. I don't know if that's Georgia, US or the ex-Soviet one -- I don't know him well enough to ask. If only I could see how he nods...