While Waiting for the Train...

After I got out of work, I headed for the train station.  I usually walk up to Union Square where I can catch the express train and hopefully shorten my trip a little.  It was a hot and muggy night.  

Local train, after local train passed by.  I stood waiting for the express.  Sweat dripped down my face.  Drowning out the world, I had my iPod plugged in and was listening to Ani Difranco.  I wasn't really paying attention to anything but the task at hand - getting home.  

All of a sudden there was a tapping on my arm.  Needless to say, I jumped nearly two feet off the ground.  Before me were two strangers I had spotted a little down the platform.  I instantly assumed that the older of the two would ask me for directions.  (People are seemingly drawn to me like that and will often ask me for directions, or if I'm in a store, they will ask for where things are.)  She smiled and said, "Are you Andrew Thornton?"

Hearing your name out of context is a little startling.  It's kind of like getting a letter from the IRS.  Before you open it, there's always a little sense of panic.  At least for me there is.  I always try to scroll through my memory of what I did wrong.  In this particular case, in the moments that it took me to respond, I flipped through my memory to try and match up these two ladies' faces.  I came up blank and said, "Yes, that's me.  Who are you?"

Apparently these lovely strangers were Carol and Mary, a mother and daughter visiting New York on vacation.  Both of them are avid beaders and recognized me from Stringing Magazine and from my blog.  I don't really think of myself as remarkably memorable.  I just make my work and try to make it through the day mostly.  So, when they said that they knew about me and my family, I was a little taken aback.  I was even more stunned when Carol showed me her necklace, which was loosely based on a design I created called Golden Secret.  What an incredible surprise!