Stranded

This morning I got up much earlier than usual in hopes of getting to school early to be productive. However, when I found myself dressed and ready to go at 5:05 AM I realized that if I left right then, there was the distinct possibility that I'd actually get to school before the building was unlocked. And since sitting around in my apartment seemed better than sitting around in my car I decided to wait a bit at home.

I had just begun burning a CD of Mike's DJ Dial-tone music to listen to in my car when I heard a knock on the window behind me. I turned around and saw a girl, who seemed to be about nineteen or twenty years old, sheepishly looking through the window. I tossed on my coat and went outside to see what she wanted.

Now, let me say that this is by no means a normal occurance in my neighborhood. When I leave for work at my usual time, around 5:45, no houses are lit up and there are few cars out. But at 5:10 I was too sleepy to think it was odd that a stranger would be tapping on my window.

She sheepishly told me that she was here to pick somebody up, and that she had found the intersection that he lived near, but that she didn't know which apartment he was in. And she couldn't call him because her cell phone was dying.

"It's okay," I said. "We have a cordless phone. Let me go get it." So I went back inside and got our phone. When I returned to the porch she was trying in vain to get her cell phone to stay on long enough to get his number.

"I can't get this to work," she said. "Could I come inside and plug this in? I'm not insane, I swear."

"It's fine, come on in," I said, too out of it to consider what would happen if she wasn't as sane as she claimed. She had her charger with her, and once her phone was plugged in she was able to call her friend and find out just where he lived. The talked for awhile, with her trying to explain that yes, she was in a stranger's house, no, not out in her car, yes, in the neighborhood, no, not on that street, et cetera. During their conversation I went into the bedroom to wake Mike.

"Hey, someone's here. She's stranded and using our phone," I said. "Just stay in here."

Mike was pretty groggy. "You're out there watching her, right?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied, as if I wouldn't leave her alone for a second, even though it was obvious I was in there with him.

After the girl had settled everything she apologized for the inconvenience and left. I left soon after, not nearly as early as I would have liked.

At the time it all made perfect sense. But in retrospect, it's weird. Who visits their friend at 5 AM? Who goes to a stranger's house to plug in their phone? Who carries around a plug-in charger but doesn't have a car charger?

Weird.