Day 71: Learning to Crochet, with an Engineer.

I have to be honest, 

When i'm commuting or just out and about in the city, 


I get scared of people that just come up and talk to me.


immediately my body tenses up, and I either look really scared and/or start backing away.


I think its a combination of the news, living in a big city, and having my own share of dealing with creepers that makes me this way. 


But the sad part is that not a lot of people are actually creepers.


that there are genuinely nice people out there just wanting to make conversation.


Like today for example.


I was on the train heading over to the ferry this morning.


when I got out of the train, I heard a voice to my left saying 


<>


I saw a middle aged man smile at me and I politely said that I certainly was.


(the large box and plastic bag filled with sticks probably gave it away...probably)


He started to tell me that he was a an engineer and that all those sticks that I was carrying at that moment, were very familiar to him.


When I encounter people like this , I generally try to be nice and smile and walk away. But he kept talking and following me. Mostly about engineering terms and bridges.


I thought at some point, he was just going to say bye and walk away. He asked me what level of the ferry do I usually stay in and he followed me down to the lower level.


I was kind of scared because I thought he was trying to ask me awkward questions or something. But I didn't want to say "oh I have to go now" because..I was on a boat. Where could I possibly go?


I think I'm just...too nice...I don't know.


So we sat down and he started talking to me more about his life as a teacher and an engineer. He showed me his water bottle that was insulated with a yarn bottle holder that he had crocheted. 


He told me that in this water bottle holder, the water would remain as ice all day and that it was perfect for him to put on his desk because it wouldn't produce any condensation on the bottle and not make anything wet.


He also taught me to only freeze half the bottle. This way the bottle doesn't expand and release any chemicals into the water.


I saw in his bag numerous bottles of different shapes and sizes. He was taking out a crochet needle and some yarn (which he had put inside of yet another bottle)


He started teaching me the basics of crocheting. He didn't even ask if I wanted to learn, he started demonstrating. But I didn't mind at all.


Then he gave me the yarn and needle and helped me learn different stitches. 


The announcer on the ferry said it was time to dock soon. I saw him rummage through his bag some more and cut the yarn to give me what I had been working on.


We got out of the ferry and started to walk towards the train station.


Along the way he explained that I was one of this fastest learners and 76th student. Which, according to him, would have been a good number for a historian.


We were taking different trains and his last words to me were


"If you ever see me again, show me your progress"


and he walked away.


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When I headed over to my train, I felt guilty. 


That during most of the time he was speaking to me, I had thought he had ulterior motives. 


But, he was so kind and he just spoke to me like I was a friend.


I don't get to meet people like that often.


Maybe the reason why people have such angry looks on their faces in New York is because they don't want to be bothered by real creepy people. 


and thats such a shame that people like that exist in the world, it makes people afraid to meet others that seem to make the world not such a scary place after all.


(The sad part is, that I don't even know his name)


Its funny that earlier that morning I was debating on whether I should go to class or not with my mother, since I didn't really need to.


She said that I should go, because I would probably learn something today.


and she was right.