It’s a beautiful day outside. The sun is shining. The birds are chirping. Maybe there’s pleasant music playing in your head. I don’t know. Maybe that’s your thing. I won’t judge.
Whatever a good day means to you, you’re having one and all is right with the world. You haven’t been this happy since Zack and Kelly finally got married in the Saved by the Bell wedding special.
That girl was born to wear white.
There are only a few things that could possibly make your day get any better. Maybe your roommate finally agrees to do his laundry that has been funkefying your room for the last three months.
Or maybe ABC asks Star Jones to come back to The View.
I’m still crossing my fingers.
Low and behold, something even greater than you can ever imagine occurs when you run into Susie McCutefriend while your walking down the street to your next class.
Luckily for you, Boston University’s sidewalk construction detour has led both of you to the Prudential Center or else you never would have seen her.
You and Susie have a wonderful little stop-and-chat focusing on the subtle differences between violet and purple. This leads into a small but fascinating discussion about the recent drop in gas prices.
“You’re favorite company is Chevron? Mine too.”
As you part ways, you pity that she still has to walk around the Public Garden before she gets to her class in the School of Education.
And the poor girl lives in Towers.
Personally, I love a good run-in to spice up my day. As long as it occurs with people who brush their teeth regularly and possess above-average conversational skills, it can be the best part of my day.
Unfortunately, not all run-ins are as welcomed as the lovely encounter with Susie McCutefriend.
Sometimes a run-in with the wrong person makes you wonder why you ever left your room in the first place.
Perhaps you’ve fallen victim to a terrible run-in situation before. Some kid you had a class with freshman year stops you in the hallway to catch up, unaware that you never knew his name or wanted to know.
That kid who had a Dragon-Ball Z folder in his backpack but didn’t quite understand why you kept making “dragon balls” jokes.
That kid who used to lean over to you in class every Friday morning and ask, “Yo, where’s the party at this weekend?” even though he stayed in his dorm to finish models of the Millennium Falcon every Friday and Saturday night.
Yeah, “that kid.” I never liked him either.
You shouldn’t expect a conversation with him to be remotely interesting or worth your while. I usually get lost daydreaming about more important things, such as a convincing fake phone number to give him in case he asks for it or what toenail-clipping strategy I should employ later that night.
The first moment he gives you a chance to get out of the conversation, you involuntary spout out the first lie that comes to mind.
“I need to go vacuum my shower, but we’ll talk later.”
As you walk away, you make a mental note to block him on Facebook before he gets the chance to poke you.
Sadly, there aren’t enough Susie McCutefriend’s in the world for every run-in we have. That being the case, being out in public can be dangerous.
As long as we’re all socially conscious enough about this problem to fix it, we won’t have to do away with run-in situations from our social lives altogether.
Be more selective about who you stop and talk to. Perhaps a stop-and-chat with a person who did nothing more than shake your hand three years ago at freshman orientation is slightly over anxious.
Also consider that you might be the problem. I know it’s difficult to accept that there may be people in this world that don’t fist pump every time they see you out in public, but please don’t be naive.
It would be crazy to think there aren’t certain people out there who would rather drink a bottle of Frank’s Red Hot instead of talking to you, even if only for a few seconds.
While writing this column, I’ve personally realized three separate situations where the other parties show no interest every time I stop to talk to them.
Which reminds me . . . I really should give my grandparents a call over Thanksgiving break.
If you feel like you’re involved in a run-in where the other person isn’t interested in talking to you, there’s a very good chance that it’s true. Go home and look in the mirror. Do you want to talk to yourself? Probably not.
If you do want to talk to yourself and actually do it, then you’re crazy.
That’s another problem entirely.
Kiel Servideo, a sophomore in the College of Communication, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].