Wednesday, 20 October 2004 | Nothing

Nothing was coming, so I walked diagonally through the quiet intersection. A man from a utility company (I didn't notice which one) was walking toward me, carrying an orange cone to place on the road. I paused for a second to put in my headphones and then half-smiled at him, though I don't know if he saw me. He mumbled something back at me.

Did he say, "C'mon, miss"? Was he annoyed with me? There was nothing revealing about his tone. Did I get in his way? I hope not. I didn't stop for very long, but maybe it was long enough to piss him off. Could he have really said, "C'mon, miss"? That doesn't seem very likely. Oh, wait. No. He said, "Good morning." Oh no. Now it's too late to reciprocate. I'm glad he didn't say what I originally thought he said, but this might be worse, because now I'm at fault, because I didn't respond. He must think I'm rude. Maybe he'll assume I didn't hear him. I hope he knows I didn't hear him. He's probably not even thinking about it. Why am I still preoccupied with it?

I thought about it for ten more minutes. Agonizing over nothing, essentially. I do it all the time.