I move, and almost didn't move (from a pole)

I'm moving to St. Louis. I did the math, and it is cheaper and more reasonable for me to move out of my dad's rural abode, and live carlessly, in urban St. Louis, than it is for me to buy a car and afford to commute into downtown. Honestly, I don't mind. I lived without a car for six months in Seattle, and actually enjoyed it. And working for the public transit system here in St. Louis...I'm just supporting the family business. While I will be squatting in the three-walled "art studio" part of a one-bedroom apartment (my new theme song...ain't no bed smaaaallll-enough!), I will be living on one of the best street in America. And most importantly, hopefully I will get some of that zest for life back. I miss the energy of a city. Where young people, however hopelessly cynical and broke, still believe their futures will juxtapose someplace wonderful and grand.

Oh, and funny story: a week ago, I was walking to my Metro stop in Shiloh, and a thirty-something year old guy with Down Syndrome asked me if I wanted to see a magic trick. I did a quick scan to see if another train was coming round the bend (the signal that the stationed train would be leaving soon), and there wasn't one, so I said sure. I expected him to whip out some of those novelty hoops or some cards or something. Instead, he said, you have to put your hands behind your back. I was carrying a bag at the time, so I put one behind my back. He circled behind me, and I expected him to put something in my hands, like a hidden quarter or something. He then asks me to put both hands behind my back, and I see, out of the corner of my eye, that he is drawing a longish rope out of his pocket.

Lightbulb moment: this guy wants to tie me up.

I assess my options: let this guy tie me up, or cordially decline having my hands tied together at a Metro stop. I go for the latter, claiming that I "unfortunately don't have time to be tied up" because I have to catch a train. He disappointedly obliges. I find out later, at work, that this guy managed to tie a woman to a pole the day before. She was remarkably good-natured about it, calling it in mostly as a "by the way...". But geez. I think about this later: no matter how optimistic are my liberal tendencies, I probably shouldn't let any stranger tie me to a bus stop pole. Unless it's Johnny Depp. Lesson for the ages.