sunday november 8

today i was about to cross the street at college and brock when i was approached by a teenager asking for directions to dufferin mall. this initially seemed like a dream scenario for direction-giving, since the dufferin mall is one of my favourite and most frequently-visited places in my area. but as i pointed up brock street and said, "you walk up this way and turn, uh…", i realized i had no idea what the side streets off brock were called. after struggling for a couple seconds, i said, "actually, it’s probably easier to go down to dufferin and walk up from there."

"thanks," he said. "is it the next light?"

"uhh, two lights up," i said. it was the next light.

while i’m sure he found his way there eventually, i wasn't thrilled with my directions. on top of that, after he thanked me and we went our separate ways, i realized it was 5:50pm — 10 minutes until the mall closed. while i consoled myself by speculating that maybe he was just meeting someone there, or maybe he wanted to go to no frills (open until 8) or walmart (open until 9), i couldn’t help but also feel disappointed that i’d failed to mention the hours to him, just in case. i’ll be more prepared next time.