The 22 Project: NYC - episode 3

Maybe I was poorly calibrated today, but I could have sworn this guy was about 17 years old.  I was on the Bronx-bound 4 train again, it was around 7pm or 8pm, and he stepped on the train.  I first noticed the hair, and then the youthful face, and then the backpack – I came to the conclusion that he's probably a local on summer break.  And then I concluded that he was the kind of guy I would have crushed on secretly in high school.  This was in comparison to my actual high school crushes, just to make myself feel less creepy.  I thought he was 17, after all.  In fact, I just tried to think of something else entirely.  No use starting a career as a pedo when I didn't have to, right?

Pedophile or not, the damage was done.  He'd caught my attention, and I had to introduce myself per the restraints of 22.

That's how I met Ethan the engineer, and after talking to him for a couple of minutes I learned he just finished the undergrad program at University of Connecticut, he's headed to Cornell University to get his PhD, and he is 22 years old.


It's particularly exciting that he's 22 (for obvious reasons), and I got one thing right: he is on summer break!

The truth was so far off my initial assumptions it's a little embarrassing.  I used to consider myself a decent judge of character after knowing a person for a while, but the more people I've gotten to know closely, the more I realize just how much I don't understand.  It's always been a big thing for me to withhold judgment on a person whose situation I don't know, and meeting Ethan the engineer has made things a lot more interesting.  We all make snap judgements of people we see, and while most of them are totally harmless, it's worth being conscious of what we think.  </soapbox>

All that said, I'm just glad I don't have to worry about being a predator.  It'd be way easy to catch me.  Thanks for being on my blog, Ethan the engineer!



Have you met anyone that surprised you lately?