August 14, 2013 - Pt. 1

Walking to my friend SuperFrench's coffee shop this morning, I found myself walking toward a peculiar little man headed in the opposite direction.  From a distance, I couldn't tell if he was an eccentric or a genuine crazy person.  And as he got closer, it didn't get any easier to discern.

He wore a black fedora and had a dark goatee.  He was maybe in his fifties or sixties, but his manner of dress and his vibe reminded me of Harvey Keitel as the pimp in Taxi Driver.  But what caught my eye most was that he was clutching a strand of shiny, purple beads, like the kind I imagine you get at Mardi Gras - he was draping them over his fist like he was doing the rosary.

As we grew closer to each other, I could see his eyes were fixed on me, smiling a smile of recognition, but I swear I'd remember if I'd ever seen this guy before.

Almost face to face now, he calls, out - still walking, on the verge of passing me - "See you....see you later!"

I smile, but I don't know how to answer that kind of a remark from a stranger.  Then, from behind me I hear, and I twist to see him say, "Oh, and....uh....good, good, uh, good luck with your, uh....with your pregnancy, uh delivery."

I laugh.  I say thanks.

I think he was a Brooklyn leprechaun.