Sighting

Sultanahmet Square, one sunny afternoon, I found myself wandering through the public garden after visiting Hagia Sophia. I stopped to get a beverage. As I don’t speak Turkish, I didn’t understand the menu. One word caught my eye: “muz.” There were two guys standing next to me. One of them, who happened to be originally from Turkey, said the word muz is Turkish for banana. His friend, a German blonde guy, happened to be carrying the same drink, so he kindly offered me a sip to see if it was good. I really wanted to talk to him; I wanted to get to know him. We chatted a bit, and the conversation, to my greatest misfortune, ended with “Have a nice day.” This moment is engraved in my memory, keeping me wondering what if. What if I had been more engaged in the conversation? Had I been more open, maybe we could have been friends. I know nothing about this German guy—neither his name nor which city he’s from or what he does—all of which I could have asked, but I just didn’t.