Walking down the hill to catch the ferry, I spot one of my neighbors up ahead. Her head is bowed as if deep in prayer or Whatsapp conversation. For me, they are often the same thing.
I am gaining on her. I don’t really feel like a hello because that’s risking small talk. It is hot today and I don’t need to hear it from anyone else.
The problem is I am wearing cheap flip flops. They are loud. But the good news is I have mastered a ninja technique where you grip the straps of your flip flop with your big toe and its partner so that the tongue of the flip flop keeps to the sole of the foot, resulting in neither a flip nor a flop.
Now I am only a few steps behind my neighbor. My stomach tightens and so do my big toes. Her head is still bowed. An iPhone, lime green case. I slither right past her, undetected. I think it’s important that life has some victories, if only small ones.