Touching strangers

An odd thing happened to me today. I was in the food court of the building in which I worked getting lunch (as one might normally do at a food court). I left the Sbarro with my Bag of Hurt (so named because I'm sure it's the effect it will have on my system at some point in the future), and when I was halfway out of the food court, I realized that I'd forgotten to grab a fork. I turned around to head back, trying to navigate through the lines that had formed at the more popular installments, and started to walk past a pillar in front of the McDonald's. At that point, a young lady (who looked to be about my age) who was walking the opposite direction directly in front of me stopped to say hello to one of the McDonald's employees. I stopped as well, since there wasn't enough room between the pillar and the person in the line between the McDonald's and the pillar, and I stood there for a second or two until the lady turned back to face my direction. Noticing me, she said, "I'm sorry," and moved so that we could pass each other. Now, as she walked past me, she lightly grabbed onto my arm and kept hold of it until she was completely past. I didn't say anything, but I found it rather strange. This woman had never met me before, yet she touched me for a prolonged period. (It was maybe three seconds at most, but when you're touching a total stranger, one second could be considered a prolonged period.)

When I got back to the office, I told my coworker Greg about it, and as I related the anecdote, it suddenly dawned on me that I should check my pockets and make sure everything was still there. Nothing was missing, so that left me still rather confused. I would never dream of touching someone I didn't know, even on a relatively non-private area such as the forearm. I mean, I can't imagine most people feel comfortable in such a situation. If it had been the other way around, and I'd done that to a woman, I'm sure I'd be facing a harrassment suit right now. Luckily for her, I didn't really mind that much. (Why didn't I mind? Logic would say that it was because she was attractive, but I honestly can't remember what she looked like. Maybe I just really need a hug after that awful dream I had the other night, and I figured that was close enough.) And luckily for me, I wasn't on an episode of Dead Like Me, and she wasn't a Reaper removing my soul before a horrible (yet wacky) death ensued.

In other news, I just picked up Sunny Day Real Estate's last album, The Rising Tide. Some of their stuff has popped up on my Yahoo! radio, and I had found it very awesome. The album is all kinds of kick-ass. I might add them to my list of bands on My Space on a provisional basis. (Or maybe I'll just wait and see how I like How It Feels To Be Something On, their second-to-last album, before making any decisions.)