Egaré en chemin
Tu verras le pire
Pour trouver le sud
Sans perdre le Nord
Après les certitudes
Au-delà des bords
I’m lost but I’m not stranded yet
-–Noir Désir
Being lost is scary for a lot of people.
I’ve always sort of enjoyed it.
When I lived in Paris, I used to go out and try to get a little lost wandering around the city. On purpose. Get on a bus at random. Get off somewhere that looks interesting. Roam around. Get on another bus. Repeat as necessary. It was a way to learn the city and entertain myself on a very limited budget, and since Paris has such great public transportation there was really no way to get too lost.
It’s how I ended up having mint tea with a group of North Africans while they helped me figure out the best way for me to get home.
Which is also how I found out how much I assume about others by how they dress.
It’s how I ended up finding a shoe store with prices even I could afford on the weird looking stuff I loved.
It’s how I found the only place in Paris to buy tortillas and refried beans, and a great deli.
It’s how I found out that being uncomfortable can sometimes be not only good for you but also a lot of fun.
This doesn’t apply to getting lost when you need to be somewhere at a specific time.
Like, say, a job interview.
Even then, I got lucky.
One time, a cute Italian guy took pity on me and gave me a ride to my appointment in his Ferrari.
In retrospect, he may have thought he was the one who was going to get lucky…