Longevity.

Or, has anyone figured out I have nothing to write about?In the story I tell my kids about how I met their mother, I've realized the first chapter is going to be even more boring than Ted Mosby's. "In the summer of 2008, I did nothing at all. In the summer of 2009... well kids, your old man did more of the same."

So I'm trippin'. A few weeks ago, I went to New York City. It was a good, if all too short vacation. I saw the usuals, Empire State, Statch of Lib, etc. But the best times I had were just walking to and fro. I met artists, talked with homeless people, even witnessed someone get arrested.

At one point, I was with one of my traveling companions, as we were looking for flowers for his girl. We stopped at a small general store esque place and began selecting. After a minute or two, this trendy dressed dude who looked like he walked out of a Kanye West video started loudly asking the store clerk for a bag. He was already carrying a few.

"Do you have a bag or some shit? I've got a lot here." He shouted. The clerk brought him a bag, and as the two struggled to put three separate wraps of flowers into it, my cohort started talking to him. In one bag was an alarm clock.

"You must really like that girl." He said. The man shot us a look, maybe expecting someone he knew, then smiled. In one bag was a set of candles.

"This is what happens when you cheat." We were shocked. We joked back and forth for a moment, assuming he had slept with another girl and was now trying to make it up to her. In one bag was a wii.

"Naw, I just have a few girlfriends on the go. I'm dropping this wii off first."

By now he had our full, undivided attention. My buddy responds: "How do you decide which one gets which gift?"

"Longevity. The wii goes to my main girl, we've been together for three years. I've got this new one since christmas. She just gets candles."
The kinds of people you meet in travel are astounding.

That's why next on the list, is a tour of Europe. I'm heading off in June. Same group of people, this time for a month.

In the story of how I met their mother, I'll have plenty more anecdotes like that to share with the youngins.

-K