Carpe Diem

Coming back from a fantastic weekend from Lake Tahoe means a lot of follow ups. I got up early to return my rental car. Not after a few mistake turns, did I realize I was zigzagging in the hilly streets to go around all the one-way signs. After returning the car, I found myself in a wrong address somewhere in Union Square, where I was planning to obtain my international driver’s license. I fumbled through the internet pages on my cell phone and ironically found a much easier location to get the license, which is only 3 blocks away from my home.

Carpe Diem! Instead of going back home, I walked onto Union Square and started to take pictures. Union Square isn’t all that big, and I have taken quite a number of photo tours there in the past. Each time, I found a few new angles to shoot, and I never seemed to have got tired of it. It was only during my warm-up shooting exercise that an old Chinese guy walked straight toward me, looking really embarrassed. He asked me in Chinese: “Do you speak Mandarin?” “Yes.” “Oh great. Are you Taiwanese? …” It turned out that he was short of $38 to pay his car to the airport – something like that as he explained in a complete rush. Whether it sounded logical or not, I did not remember. All I did was to immediately hand him the money. He nodded back every few other steps when he walked away, with a smile mixed with embarrassment and appreciation. I hope I did help him get out of his trouble.

A few more shots after that little incident, I decided to go home. After all, it was a bit too chilly and foggy. Then I realized that Chinatown was nearby, and I haven’t patronized that little shop in the last 6 months. It has my favorite dumplings. Oh well - another perfect item on my agenda!

So instead of an international driver’s license, I got home with two large shopping bags of dumplings, a lot more than I needed. What a fruitful or fruitless day? Maybe it’s not that important.

Carpe Diem!