I think I have a face people feel they can talk to. I often am asked questions from strangers. Tonight, a young indian man wanted to know if catching the Half Moon Bay ferry would get him to Manukau Centre. I suggested a bus might be a better option, but it seems he was trying the ferry because the bus took 90 minutes and about 70 stops, he said, and he didn't want to do that again. I told him, the bus that meets the ferry goes to Botany Downs Shopping Centre, and that there might be connecting buses from there, so he was a bit happier about that.

He kept chatting away - wondered why I was at the ferry so early - seems he had tried to catch the 5:45pm and missed it so was catching the 6:30pm. I told him about stopping off to buy something for dinner so I was a bit earlier than I usually was. He asked me if I'd eaten Indian food before and I told him I had and I liked it and I ... okay so retelling a not-so-interesting-incident in real time isn't very interesting for you. The whole point was.. I ended up feeling like I was responsible for this young man, two weeks off the boat from India. When my bus driver dropped me off at my house, as he always does - bless him - I wished the young man well and said it was nice meeting him. I hope the bus took him part way to where he needed to go - this part of the world is a bit bigger on foot than it appears on a map.