people were so friendly today everywhere i went. i could not figure it out. because weekend days right before the holidays can sometimes bring out the worst in people. but there was something different about today. it just felt more humane.

i could not figure out what to do with myself tonight. i kind of wanted to go to this concert, but then i also kind of wanted to go somewhere quiet and work on my performance, but didn’t feel like being alone. so i ended up in the far corner of this sushi bar. i was seated next to this guy talking to 2 women, one of whom turned out to be his girlfriend, the other who was his girlfriend’s friend. the guy had his back angled towards me, only inches away. it felt claustrophobic.

but then he suddenly turned to me and apologized for turning his back to me. he didn’t mean to be rude. i thought he was just talking about the position of our chairs, but he was actually apologizing for not including me on their conversation. He said his name was Eddie. I said, “You are the first Eddie I’ve ever met.” Then he introduced me to the 2 women. They were all very friendly.

Then Eddie introduced me to the sushi chef, whose name was Mike. Eddie told me that the next time I ate there I should order the “Mike’s Special.” It used to be Eddie’s favorite until he went vegan. He told me that this was a real neighborhood place, “the sushi version of Cheers.” He asked me where I lived, and when I told him I lived in Uptown, he described how the neighborhood had changed. I wasn’t sure where he was going with this because the neighborhood always feels the same. I guess there used to be a lot more prostitutes around there, and he knew their names and they knew his name and he would say “hello” to them on his way to work.

As I was leaving, they all said it was nice meeting me, and I echoed it back. I wonder what would have happened if I had stayed.