Read in this order:
1️⃣2️⃣
3️⃣4️⃣
Then,
5️⃣↘️
↘️6️⃣
This isn’t a freaky or extreme story. Nothing bad happens at the end. It’s just about one of the times I ended up rerouting my life to avoid the pursuits of (older) men I wasn’t interested in.
There was a great pizza spot near my college. I used to go with friends. I eventually got a part-time job nearby, so I sometimes went there to grab a slice on my 15-minute breaks.
Often the owner was there, working at the counter. I wasn’t overly chatty with him. But I guess I probably smiled when I ordered. Sometimes he asked me about my (thrilling) cashier job at the nearby Staples. But that was the extent of our relationship. Person buying pizza from person selling pizza.
In retrospect, I realize that he was flirting with me. But at the time, with the age gap between us, I was oblivious. I was just being kind and polite, like I would be with anyone working in the service industry.
One day I was walking by the pizza spot on my way to work. He was sitting outside, with a couple other older dudes. He told me they were planning a camping trip that weekend. He invited me to come with them.
I was so confused about what he was asking me.
I laughed nervously and looked around to gage the others’ reactions.
He repeated the invitation. He said it would be fun! He was serious.
I was not equipped to respond. I panicked and said I would be working on the weekend. And speaking of work, I had to go there right away, actually! Then I walked away really fast.
So after that, I tried to avoid walking on that side of the street to get to work. I didn’t go there for pizza anymore. Nothing bad happened. He didn’t start stalking me or anything. But I was always a little afraid afterwards.
I tend to be kind when interacting with strangers, coworkers, acquaintances, etc. And I smile a lot. I’m not flirting. I’m just trying to be nice. And I guess there’s a lot of lonely people out there looking for kindness in their lives. I don’t know what that pizza man wanted, but he certainly set off my internal alarms.
Funnily enough, my new favourite pizza spot was called “Second Pizza”.
process &
behind-the-scenes
I love cutting shapes out of paper. It’s so meditative. I get super focused when I’m trying to cut a curve just right. I love the little imperfections that result from hand-work.