“You’re not going to write about me, are you?”
“I write about everybody,” I said, laughing. “My life isn’t as interesting without all the characters I run into every day.”
I filled out a couple more lines of paperwork, then promised her I’d change her name if she did anything wacky and I was forced to tell the Interweb about it. Like yesterday at the grocery store.
“Can I ask you a question?”
I was twisting the plastic bag of gala apples and knotting it closed when I looked up to see the grocer – a large, friendly-looking, young-ish guy in in a green apron – smiling at me.
“Sure,” I said, but isn’t it usually the other way around?” I never have picked a good melon without the grocer’s help.
“I was just wondering… did you do those braids yourself?”
“Yep.” I smiled, suddenly self conscious of my Half Pint braids.
“Well, how do you get them so symmetrical? I tried to braid my little sister’s hair like that and they all came out uneven. She wasn’t too happy.”
Bizarre things happen all the time, and for a second, I wondered what would happen if I didn’t tell this man the secret to precisely even pigtail braids. Would he follow me to my car and hack them off with a cleaver he stole from the meat counter? I looked him over and decided he didn’t look like the hacking kind at all, that his sister was probably a very nice girl (one who deserved symmetry, damn it!), and that weird as the conversation may be, I was in no danger.
“You can’t look,” I said. “If you do it all by feel, they turn out perfect every time. Well, almost every time.” I smiled, and figeted with my apples.
“Ah, I’ll have to try that next time.”
He thanked me and I set my apples in the cart and wandered off down the aisle, trying to imagine this man braiding someone’s hair. I couldn’t.
You didn’t once think to yourself, “um, how old is his sister?” That’s all I’d be able to think, imagining this man braiding the hair of a 32 year old.
That’s the cutest thing I ever heard- he braids his sister’s hair! Or maybe it’s kind of creepy…
When I was younger my mom would braid all of my hair in these itty-bitty braids and when I would wake up the next morning and take them out my hair would be curly! It was the only way my hair would curl.
I say the whole conversation was just an excuse for him to check out your apples.
Uh, yeah, I sure did wonder about the sister! But the whole situation was just weirder than weird, so there were a thousand things I wondered!
I’d like to think his little sister is very young, so I’m going to go ahead and say that was a really sweet story. =)
“You can’t look,” I said. “If you do it all by feel, they turn out perfect every time. Well, almost every time.”
That’s BRILLIANT – I’ve never thought of it like that.
PS: The last person who came up to me in the produce section of the grocery store and said, “Can I ask you a question?” became one of my closest friends. =)
Ha! That HAD to be made up. He just thought you were cute and wanted an excuse to talk to you. Guys have the most bizarre ways of approaching women. Poor lil’ fella.
I, too, choose to think that his sister is younger.
I have a friend that was a flight attendent for years. Her husband became great at the French braid. All the little girls on the block went to Mike for their braids.
Did I mention he was a high school football coach?
a girlish looking guy asked you about braids…….
and what did his hair look like???
HA! Half Pint… I hadn’t thought of Little House on the Prairie in years until my 17 year old came out of the bathroom tonight with two perfect braids. And now you’re talking about sporting the same fashion. Kismet!
Yeah. He’s wantin’ to play with someone’s pigtails. And I bet it’s not his sister’s.
hint hint miss fish
sounds like he just wanted to stike up a convo. he seems kind of harmless, but definitely really random!
I’m that guy, except – if it was a line – I wouldn’t be quick enough to come up with the whole “little sister” cover story. I’m just curious about things and always want to ask people questions or comment to them. There was a woman in the CVS some weeks ago with this really cool green purse and I struggled with whether to say anything or not. So I said “I like your purse” as I was passing her and leaving the store. I heard a happy “Thanks!” behind me so I guess it was all right.
I’m so glad I’m not the only adult who wears low pigtails. But mine aren’t braided. And sometimes there’s a baseball cap involved.
Uh, it could be that he was talking past tense, as in “when I was younger, I tried to braid my little sister’s hair.” Doesn’t sound so creepy that way. Odd, but not creepy. My big sister always found ways to “make” me paint her toenails. That’s how I learned to stay within the lines. ;o)
Something similar happened to me about three years ago – I’d just gotten my nails done and I stopped at a convenience store for a couple bottles of water before heading to the gym. On my way to my car, a very masculine guy comes running out of the store and says, “I love your nails, where do you get them done?” I told him. And he just said, “Thanks.”
I could just see him walking into a salon and asking for the French manicure. Maybe he wanted to treat his girlfriend. It was just so unexpected coming from a guy.
I love when a girl fidgets with my apples.
Glad to see I’m not the only one who got the half pint reference.
Creepy, odd, sweet, whatever it is or was, still a great story. Those are some of the best to tell and be told.
i choose to believe that his sister was an older woman but had MS, was wheelchair bound, and unable to braid her hair herself. he is simply an older brother taking care of a younger sibling.
We men must “take back” the hair braiding!
It seems that men who would like to braid are shown in an unfavorable light!
This must stop – now where’s my placard?
Wow, read your blog… How sad is your life anyway? Skinned rabbits from childhood, grocery store clerks approaching you… Why do you call this “single life in NY”? You could live in any smallest provincial village in the world and there would be no difference… Why are you not using the possibilities that you have?
I think it would have been cuter if he was braiding his daughter’s hair…but that might just be me.
I always wanted to be one of those girls wearing the low braids, but I just can’t rock that look.
once i man started singing very loudly opera style in the meat department while i was shopping. very entertaining i must say
please take a peek at my blog
http://fashionohlala.blogspot.com/
merci!
All hail boys who ask for tips!
If my Ex-boyfriend hadnt asked his hair dresser about the tools laying around her station I would never be the proud owner of one of the best flat irons available!