surprise!

for the past few months i’ve been feeling sort of grumpy about the ten pounds i’ve gained since last fall. my clothes haven’t been fitting as well and i’ve just been a little down in the dumps about how i look.

today, i biked to my favorite thrift store just to purchase one little thing (which of course turned into several other things). i was wearing a black t-shirt and some blue capris, my bike helmet and my slightly grungy bike shoes-nothing special. as i was cramming all of my purchases into my bike bag, a middle-aged (?) hispanic man walked across the parking lot with a single red, long stemmed rose. he approached me and asked me if i would hold his rose. thinking this must be some sort of scam (although i was at a loss to see how it could possibly be a scam–did he want to evangelize to me while i held his rose? take my picture and then try to sell me photos?) i said, “um, no thanks!” and he said, “why not?” and i said, “why do you want me to hold your rose?” and he said, “because you are so beautiful! i want you to have it!” he went on to say that he had seen me (in the store, i think?) and that he was a latin man and he had emotions and i was just so beautiful (and then he said something about my clothes–i’m not sure if he meant that i was particularly attractive in the outfit i was wearing or if he meant, ‘well, that outfit’s not really beautiful, but i can imagine you in an evening dress’ or what) and really, didn’t i want his rose? i laughed and thanked him for brightening my day. no one can give you a sincere compliment quite like a stranger with nothing to gain or lose. i did end up refusing the rose since i was on my bike (hard to carry with thorns and all). but he did give me something after all–a story and a smile.