The Walk Home

Yesterday I left work a little before 5 to walk home.  There are a couple of different routes I take, one of which goes past the bank.  I went that way so I could stop at the ATM.  When I got there, it was in use, and then I realized the person was having some difficulty.  Okay, this will take longer than I expected.  I turned my attention to what was going on around the intersection of Georgia and Cameron Streets.  The bus stopped, not quite in the right lane.  A car easing from a right hand lane over in front of other cars at the stoplight - apparently wanting to turn left instead.  A blind woman, talking on a cell phone, crossing the street with her guide dog, and then milling around a bit - up and down the sidewalk.  The dog seemed confused - but turns out she was meeting someone at the corner and they hadn't arrived yet.

Then a van pulled up and stopped.  A woman got out and walked up toward the bank.  She saw me and asked if I was in line.  I said "yes, but go ahead."  The first person was finishing up, and I figured waiting a little longer was fine, since the van was stopped in a busy street.  I then realized this ATM transaction wasn't going well either.  After quite a while, a man got out of the van and came up to help, and after a few more minutes I finally made it to the ATM.

The rest of the walk home went as usual, until I turned onto Harvey Road, a block from the house.  A truck was stopped ahead, hazard lights on, and a woman was standing by the curb on the other side of the street.  As I approached she crossed over and began to speak - in Spanish mostly, but a few words of English.  She seemed to be saying she had lost her phone, and was gesturing - but I really didn't know what she was asking.  After a bit, I thought that she probably wants to make a call, so I asked if she wanted to make a call on my phone.  Yes, that was it.  So she called for whatever help she was after, I didn't understand the details, but could tell by the tone and flow of her side of the conversation that the situation was being resolved.  She handed back the phone, got in the truck to drive off, and I walked home, about 30 minutes later than expected.