Wednesday in the Rearview

I had to wear a suit and heels yesterday. On the way to the office, I lifted my pant legs to step over a hose and walk through a series of puddles on the sidewalk. I saw the yellow caution sign. And I knew the ground was wet. But I slipped anyway, the pad of one heel slipping forward; the pad of the other slipping back in compensation so that, on the streets of San Francisco, I nearly did the splits. I righted myself before falling into the puddles, which I knew were a combination of bleach water and pee. Upon recovering, I turned to the man and woman who were power-walking to work behind me (of course I had only moments before passed them) and we all acknowledged the close call. It made me laugh.

On the subway, there were no seats. But as I squeezed my way to an open space, I noticed four old men playing cards in a pair of two-person seats that faced each other. They must have been going a long way--they had a green-felt table set up between them. It made me smile.

Rushing back into the office later, I took the stairs two at a time... and lost a heel in a groove on one of the steps.

"You lost your shoe!" cried the woman immediately behind me as she veered left to pass. As if I hadn't noticed.

I stood on one foot for a moment trying to reach backward into the sea of oncoming people. Then a man reached down and picked my shoe up for me. He placed it on the step where I was standing and raced off.

"Thank you," I called, sliding my foot in and taking off after him.

Later that night, still in my suit and heels, I waited on a corner to go home, dozens of cabs passing me, flicking their lights. I shook my head at each of them. After a few minutes, Tiffany coasted down the hill on our scooter, pulling to a stop in front of me. I put my helmet on and swung my leg over the seat. I wrapped my arms around Tiffany's waist and let my heels dangle off my feet. I could see our reflection in the rearview mirror, two bobbleheads and the retreating downtown skyline.*

It made me happy.

*The picture you see here is not of Tiffany and I on our scooter in San Francisco. It's of Tiffany and I on a rented scooter in Vietnam. But I like the picture. And that scooter ride made me happy too.