saturday march 22

today i had just walked through the sliding doors at the beer store when an old man thrusted a beer can in my direction and said something. i pulled off my headphones to see what he was saying, but all i heard was "BEER?" i nervously chuckled and indicated no thanks, i'm good. that seemed to perplex him, and he continued to hold the beer outstretched -- when i tried to walk by him, he asked what sounded, through a thick accent, like "THIS BEER?" trying to figure out what he wanted, i wondered if he might be blind, or at least have horrible eyesight. he seemed to be holding pretty steady eye contact with me, but why would he need to be asking me about the beer if he could see it? "yeah, it's uh, harp," i replied, referring to the kind of beer he was holding. "IS BEER?" he asked. "yep, harp lager," i said. this seemed to satisfy him, and he shut down his line of questioning, turning to walk toward the front counter and buy his single harp tall can. meanwhile, i put my headphones back in, feeling proud of myself for once again nailing a social interaction and helping people wherever i go.