Going Bump In the Day

I never run into people.  Possibly because I have a pavement-regarding manner, constantly checking for dogshit and lost Euros.  Today I was swinging my Morrisons bag-for-life when I noticed someone had stopped in front of me.  Oh no, I thought, not someone else asking for bloody directions.  But it was lovely A, the chaplain from where I used to work.  He was in Brux with his partner just for the afternoon.  The city has a population of 1.8 million so the chances of bumping into him were fairly slim.

We stared at each other in that way you do when something is in the wrong place.  (Many years ago, friends of mine on completely separate and divergent trips through India saw each other in a market and were so shocked they didn't even say hello).  It was delightful to see him and my life that was, and my life that is, joined momentarily like wobbly soap bubbles. 

Interestingly, the one person I keep expecting to run into (who lives here) I do not.  Although every taxi I get after a babysitting job goes by his apartment and I force myself not to look up in passing.