On my way to a playgroup for Simon (well, a State-sponsored play-area for children up to 4 yrs. old), I walked past Gypsy-Central. There was a woman with a toddler, sleeping on her lap. (How do they get those kids to sleep and lounge all day long?) There was an old woman with a young boy, just standing on the sidewalk, not far from the first set. When they both saw me they began their refrain-of-sorrow.
Then, at the corner, a bunch of children ran up to me and waved money saying, in French, "You dropped this! Here! Your money!" They were waving 20 and 10 euro bills at me. I thought, "what? 20 euros? I dropped that? But my wallet's inside my bag and I never took it out! Gee, that's a lotta money waving around down there..."
I looked at them stony faced and just said, "that's not my money." (Should I take it and say "thank you?!") Then I remembered one of the classic Gypsy tricks and grabbed my bag to make sure it was still closed. Safe. Wallet's still inside. When they realized I wasn't going for this trick, they ran down the street waving their money screaming, "it's the man on the scooter! Get him!"
Musings and snapshots of my personal life; it's everything after that happens between the Cocktails.
