Stopping on a busy sidewalk is risking your life. I brought the phone towards my face to touch the screen even as I slipped out of the flow of traffic to stand closer to the stores. Maybe she'd left emergency contact info on the phone? I wasn't even sure why I thought it was a woman, I hadn't seen her. It's all part of an automatic reaction that feels amiss when you pick up the wrong phone. Similar, but after holding your phone for hours every day, you get to know your own phone pretty damn well. Sorry, I mumbled and reached for my phone. I shook my head to clear it as the crowds wove around us. Both of us heads down, watching the screen for directions. I didn't even consider stopping at any of the restaurants that lined the streets. After so long traveling, I'd developed habits that were hard to break. My steps continued their trek back to my hotel. An overly expensive room service dinner? A night flipping through Law and Order reruns? There's a law I've discovered over a couple decades of travel: on any given hotel room TV, there will always be at least two channels showing Law and Order. Not that I had anything to hurry back for. I'd taken a rideshare to get to the conference, but based on the parking lot streets, I had my doubts that driving would get me back any quicker. This is the exact situation that smartphones with navigation were invented for. I had no idea how to get back to my hotel. What did I know about cities? Being half asleep hadn't helped either. I grew up a suburban kid, I still lived in the suburbs. The red-eye had gotten me to the city with just enough time to check-in to my hotel before hurrying to find the conference. People streaming by, talking not to each other, but to the air. Cars roaring in frustration as they couldn't move on the packed street. Then, I stepped into the revolving doors to be spat out onto the busy street. Just a moment before, I'd been standing inside a busy hotel conference center, with the only sounds the scurrying of people and the occasional shriek of a child.
It's amazing how much buildings cut down on the noise we hear. Any similarities to real or fictional people are accidental. Gregory All right reservedĪll characters in this story are at least 18 years old.
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