Lauren Wants to Know
How come I yelled out of my car at 8 am on Saturday morning, when she was crossing the lonely street? And knew her? Miss Supposedly Face Blind. How come I yelled HEY LAUREN like that?
Here was the scene. A couple Saturdays ago, I saw a woman crossing 9th Street. I saw her from the back, walking away from me. At an angle that implied not a normal downtown crossing, but a going-in-the back-of the stores on 8th Street as an employee might. Who else, with this Lauren-like shape and gait and hair, would be going downton when it was still closed? Towards a shop where a person fitting this description perfectly worked?
I rolled down my car window. With a degree of confidence.
“Lauren, you’re in the class, come by and get your slip!” The person acted like Lauren would act. Surprised but going along with it. “Okay!” she said. She kept walking.
So how did I know (pretty sure) it was Lauren?
Context. Gait. Hair. Good guessing. AKA excellent Sherlockian type reasoning skills. Luck. Long time to gather information as person was walking along sidewalk, and I was in car with excellent sightlines, no distractions. Pure genius.
The person walked how Lauren walks (she leans forward, keeps her head down, walks kind of hard, kind of hell bent, same energy as her beautiful prose–she’s not a minimalist. There’s a lot going on. She gets where she’s going. Purposeful prose = purposeful walker.)
And, I knew, from many, many, many purchases over a period of four semesters, made at a certain downtown shop, Lauren is employed downtown. Lauren’s a hard worker. I could totally imagine her up early, not hung over, working hard on Saturday morning at this particular (and delicious) shop. Where’d I have seen her many times. Who else would be going to the shop through the back before it was opened?
I was so happy to recognize her.
Face blind people are often exceedingly friendly (”why do you gush?” one student asked me) or shut down, aloof, ignoring everyone because it’s hard being wrong a lot and being uncertain all the time.
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Hi Heather:
I’m a friend of Dick Holm’s and also a long-time SUN reader…I was so happy to see your story in there this month — very nice! I’ve now been reading your blog, etc. and enjoying it all very much. I also have a blog on writing, but haven’t done anything on it in months…I’m too busy writing to write about writing! (I do mostly corporate stuff.)
You and I appeared together in the July/Aug issue of Michigan BLUE. I did a thing on Highland Park, where I grew up and where we still own a cottage.
I’ve always wanted to write something for the SUN but have been too intimidated to try…your story encouraged/inspired me to finish a story I started last summer…how did you discover the SUN? I just love it…although it’s sometimes so dark I think they should have named it the MOON.
Anyway, just wanted to congratulate you on your story–I don’t want to say I’m jealous, but I sure am envious!
Keasha Palmer
i love it!
thanks for answering my questions!
and i’m glad that i can be recognizable in some way to you.
p.s. did i tell you that i got an internship in GR at a publication place that puts out the Grand Rapids Magazine? I will be writing for them!