Pocket full of pennies

(Slightly edited from an old LiveJournal entry / 2.17.07)

I wanted to get the best cake he'd ever have...

I drove to the Ferry Building and decided to park on the street instead of paying to park in a lot. Street parking wasn't far, and it was a gorgeous day, so it seemed like a good idea until I realized that I might not have enough change for the parking meter. I parked and dug through my wallet to find a few dimes and a bunch of pennies. The dimes wouldn't buy me enough time so I looked around to see if there was a place nearby where I could change the pennies.

There was a lady parked in the car behind mine talking on her cell phone. I waited for her to finish her conversation, and then knocked on her window. I had been standing there for a good 30 seconds but apparently she hadn't noticed me so, when I knocked, I scared her half to death. She rolled down her window to tell me that.

I had 21 pennies and wanted to see if I could trade them for dimes, so I held them out and asked if she could help. She was sure she could and started looking through her wallet. I noticed she had a bunch of quarters and realized later that I should've asked her to trade a dollar for her quarters - but I wasn't thinking at the time and I really wanted to get rid of my pennies. She handed me two dimes and, as I went to hand her the pennies, she smiled and told me to keep them. I thanked her, paid the meter, and started walking toward the Ferry Building.

It was a beautiful day, so I brought my walk to a stroll and tried to take in some of the atmosphere. People were jogging and sitting by the Bay eating lunch. The sun was shining bright. I was on the look out for a homeless person so I could give away my pennies, but there wasn't one to be found.

When I got to the Ferry Building, I went straight to the cake shop. It was busy - living up to its reputation of being the-best-cake-he'd-ever-have. The girls who worked there had tiny voices and seemed very delicate, but were strangely vicious behind the counter. "Who's next?! Do you know what you want?? Alright, then who was here next?!" I was in a swarm of sweet hungry men and women. I wanted to ask questions, but apparently there was no time. The cakes were on display and looked amazing, but they were all made for 6 - 8 people and I only wanted to feed two. There were beautiful cupcakes that I knew were just as amazing so, when it came my turn, I decided to go with the cupcakes instead. I made my choice quickly and headed to the cash register. The girl who was helping me never looked me in the eye. She seemed to look at where my head might be if I was 5 inches taller, all the while maintaining her delicate, vicious smile. It was bizarre - but I took my perfect cupcakes in their perfect little pink box and headed back into the sunshine with just enough time to stroll back to my car before the meter would run out.

Back outside, I saw a guy sit down on one of the concrete benches by the Bay. He was wearing blue jeans, a hat, a backpack, and just one too many layers for such a nice day. He looked like he might be a student if he was a little younger and cleaner. I had barely noticed him when he noticed me and called out. "Hey, pretty lady! Hey!"... I kept walking. He said, "Hey! You! ...yeah, YOU. Wait just a minute, I want to talk to you." I said I was heading back to work, but he insisted. He said he saw me walking to the building earlier, and now he saw me walking back and I'm such a pretty lady and he wanted to just say hi. I thought of my pennies and said, "Oh! Do you want some change?" He said, "What? No, I don't want your change! I just wanted to say hello and tell you my name." Then, as he told me his name and asked if I had a boyfriend, I started to feel really embarrassed for asking him if he wanted my change. I told him I had a boyfriend, and he said, "Well, if you see me around, you just say 'Hi Cherry' (his name). That's all I want." I said, "Hi Cherry." We stood awkward in the sun for a minute, and then I walked back to my car with the best [cup]cakes he'd ever have, and my pocket still full of pennies.