Strange Things

I don't usually pay attention to my surroundings until strange things start happening. I drive the same route to and from work everyday. The only change is how light or dark it is outside. I've noticed lately that I'm always either going or coming from work. I don't usually notice what happens in between. Same faces and scenarios everyday at work. Same TV shows and monotony at home. This past Saturday and Sunday I encountered 3 distinct situations that may have been coincidence, but stood out in the grand scheme of things.


Saturday I worked the closing shift at my job, which means I left Baltimore after 10 pm. I got in my car as usual and made my way down the first landing to exit the parking garage. There were two cars facing me at the bottom of the landing. They were side by side blocking the turn. One was a black car and the other was a white Mercedes Benz. As I came to a stop halfway down the landing, the black car backs out and turns for the exit. The white car follows suit. When I turn towards the second landing to exit the garage, I notice the same cars at the parking kiosk. I notice that the front vehicle has the door open and male is speaking loudly at the female in the white vehicle. I again stop halfway down the landing. I wasn't sure if they were arguing. It seemed suspicious to me because the front car had payed and the gate was up, yet he's sitting there addressing the second driver. He finally goes through. As she pulls up to the gate he stops halfway down the exit ramp and starts to walk back towards the gate. The lady in the kiosk comes out and waves her key card to raise the gate and let the white car out, she pulls up behind the black car as the man walks back towards her. As I pass I hear her say thank you. I'm not sure who she was thanking, the guy or the lady in the kiosk. I'm still not sure what was going on.

After riding the parkway for 45 minutes I make it back to my neighborhood. I usually cut through the residential area behind my neighborhood. There is never anything really going on. Keep in mind that it is close to midnight on a Saturday night. I pull up to what is usually a desolate 3 way intersection. As I came closer I noticed a large group of men. I'm not sure what is going on. They're all standing randomly in the middle of the road blocking my pass. I slow down to give them a chance to disperse. In my mind I am prepared to plow threw these guys if I see a sign of trouble. Under no circumstance do I consider getting out of the car, there were about 15 guys. If I had a gun with me, I probably would have clicked the safety off. I'm inching closer, and I notice one of them was flicking a football. I never stop, when they give me a lane, I give them the deuces and continue on. I had my window cracked and as I passed, I heard one of them say something in a loud voice that I couldn't make out. I'm sure it was something stupid not worth dying over. I still don't think they were actually playing football and I'm pretty sure I'll never encounter them again.

The next day I went to work as usual. Doing a lot of walking back and forth. The public restrooms where I work are located around a corner. They are two separate single use bathrooms. When you turn a corner you see the first door to your right and the next door to the right is the second bathroom. People come in and out of those bathrooms all day long. Mostly customers but we also get the occasional hobo and or tourist. To reach the back area of my department, I have to turn that corner and walk past both bathrooms before going through double doors where only employees are allowed. On one of my numerous walks towards the back that day I encounter a very peculiar but humorous situation. At the precise moment I turn the corner a slender tall woman of Asian heritage exits the first bathroom. She was quite tall because I distinctly noticed her duck down to pass through the doorway. I think to myself, 'Damn that's the tallest Asian lady I've ever seen' A split second later as I'm about to pass the second bathroom, the door swings open and a lady of Asian heritage exits the second bathroom whose height I would estimate between 3 and 3 and a half feet tall. Which was probably the shortest Asian lady I had ever seen.