I'd been focused on not wiping out.
The parking lot was slab of ice, complete with frozen ripples and divots from the imprinted tire treads of yesterday. After a melt-freeze cycle, the sunny morning had some bite to it.
I shut the door to my truck and aimed for the front steps of the general store, trying not to go full Bambi on my way there. A group of guys, presumably friends, stood by the railing in ski gear not saying a whole lot. As I climbed the wooden steps, I shot a glance to my left. One was looking down at their phone while the other two seemed like they were trying to make a decision about something. I figured they were in their twenties, and it didn't really look like we'd have all that much in common. I'm not exactly sure why I'd been sizing them up on my way into the store... I guess I'd been trying to picture my friends and I in their place, before I even realized what I was doing.
Maybe they were college students who didn't have morning classes? Maybe they were out of college, and just on a group trip for a long weekend. Who knows. Walking past, the guy closest to me turned around and we both started talking at the same time.
"Hey, how's it going?"
I felt myself smirk. We'd said it in unison. And we even nodded downward slightly in the exact same way while we did it. A split-second later, I was already past them. So I turned and called out over my shoulder, "jinx!"
I hadn't really even meant to say it.
Welp, that was weird.
Ready to move on with my day and completely forget I'd said anything, I turned and pulled the door open. But then I heard all three start laughing. In a good way—with me, not at me. And, as I walked into the store, I noticed that I'd cracked a smile, too.
When's the last time you dropped your filter and just went with it?
onward.
For more on this daily column and The MAP Year Project, read the backstory here. And if you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along.