Compass

A few days after my friend's death, I decided to explore the city of Philadelphia on my bicycle to clear my head. I must say, a quiet, late evening bike ride at the beginning of fall, when the setting sun attenuates the orange leaves and the cool crisp air replaces the stagnant fumes of the city, really does wonders for a grieving mind. I rode through Center City and passed good ol' Ben Franklin standing atop City Hall. I rode up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, just as the sun reached the horizon. The reddish rays of the sun reflected off the drab gray of the museum emitting a brilliant peach-colored aura. The brisk breeze hit my face and instantly cleared my thoughts; so much so that I had forgotten exactly how I arrived at the Museum of Art. You have to forgive me, for even though I've lived in the city for about a year now, this was my first venture alone and I'm a complete n00b at maps and directions. So as the sun was about to set, and the pink skies were turning a dark purple, I was frantically trying to re-trace my route to no avail. I finally managed to get back to City Hall, but once I arrived there, there are three paths I could take, only one of which would take me back to Temple University. I was about to lose all hope and just park my bike and take a taxi back, which would have cost approximately a buttload of money ($10 is a lot for a cheap, Indian college student), not to mention the risk of losing my bike (risk=over 9000), but I had just remembered that Temple was North of Center City; now, if only I knew which way was North. I could have used the sun to tell me, but knowing my absent-mindedness, I never paid attention to which direction the sun was setting, and now it was dark fml. I decided to put away my pride and, at the risk sounding like a novice, I went up to an Asian man (he seemed safe to approach), and asked him "Excuse me, Sir. Could you please tell me which way is north?" I asked him for north because if I asked him which way was to Temple University (I was wearing a Temple hoodie, btw), I would not only have humiliated myself, but I would have completely demolished Temple's somewhat positive reputation. So he tells me, "Sure, hold on a second." I was watching him intently as he pulled something out of his pocket, hoping this magical item would instantly save my day. To my incredulous surprise, he casually pulls out a compass, not an iPhone, not a Blackberry, or a map, but a regular, old-fashioned, mother-fuckin' compass. This boss-ass Asian man regularly carries around a compass with him, which evidently saved my day! He pointed in the northward direction, and I made sure to thank him and went on my merry way. So, from that day, I learned a valuable lesson (Hint: It wasn't, "Always be prepared," fuck boy scouts, and I'm not enough of a nerd to carry around a compass). It was, "If you ever get lost in the city and need to know which way is which, ask an Asian, because chances are, he'll probably have a compass." So, thanks for reading this incredibly long-winded story (P.S. I've always sucked at telling stories). I'll leave you with a somewhat related pic. 

Don't laugh, these guys could one day save your life.