perfect timing is my forte!

"and then your bagel caught on fire? what is that a euphemism for?" asked an older woman at the barn who patiently listened to my story. i should've answered "interference by the universe".

friday morning, 7am, i tripped happily into bruegger's for my standard work day breakfast - whole wheat bagel, toasted with light cream cheese, odwalla spirullina juice. i noted that there was a guy in line in front of me - tall, floppy brown curls, funky glasses, nice jeans, chucks, and an elon sweatshirt. feeling the need to speak with everyone who wears north carolina college apparel, i chirped, "hey! did you go to elon?"

guy: "why yes, i did, did you?"
me: "nope, but i went to wake forest, right down 40."
guy: "did you like north carolina?"
me: (smile) "nope, not at all! did you?"
guy: "not at all. so we ran back here. what do you do now?"
me: "i work in PR. what about you?"
guy: "i actually am an assistant teacher at the _____ school...but i don't think i like it."
me: "oh, i know where that is. i train horses down the street, so i pass it all the time, and some of my students are in first grade there."
guy: "you train horses? that's awesome. i love horses. yeah, i don't think i'll do more than a year there, i'm in a grad program at harvard for art and museum studies."
me: "you ARE? that's what i'd love to be doing if i weren't in love with my job now - i was an art history major -"
guy: "that's so funny, because i'm actually working on a PR project for the museum of fine arts right now, and-"

at this moment, my bagel gets stuck in the toaster and bursts into flames. my new friend has paid for his breakfast, so he's standing there when the manager is grabbing the fire extinguisher and combating my incinerated whole wheat lump. the woman who negligently allowed this to happen is waving her arms and yelling "i sorry! i sorry!" and to me "i SO sorry! SO sorry!" i'm saying, "that's okay, no really, don't worry about it! the next one doesn't have to be toasted!" and the people in line behind us are grumbling with displeasure and sneaking toward the door. i am leaning over the sneeze shield to reassure the woman, when new friend taps me on the shoulder and says, "hey, good luck with this, it was really nice speaking with you." i yelp, "you too!!" and go back to the smoky mess that is somehow my fault.

read: that would've been the perfect opportunity to hand him my card and say, "i know art, i know PR, let me know if you need another set of eyes/brain cells." crap. perhaps i'll run into him again. OH, the cosmos.