I milled around and ducked in and out of shops for hours before my I needed a caffeine fix – I found a Starbucks, but it was hella crowded. I eventually found a table, then a guy asked if he minded if he share it with me. Of course I didn’t. He began to read his notes and I wrote in my journal. Somehow we got into a convo, and I’m glad we did. I didn’t know this man from Adam, but we wound up talking for about an hour or so – about unions, health care and access, dance – believe me, when we were talking, it all made sense. Come to find out, this guy danced with the Alvin Ailey dance company for over 10 years! He had retired a few years ago, but was coming back – he missed the freedom of expression, the traveling, and the experience. He told me that when they come to Berkeley and if he is with the company, he would leave me some tickets – how cool is that?