Small Adventure - Dropped

It's easy to get jaded here. Smartphone zombies just walk straight into you. Groups of students, OLs (office Ladies) and salarymen will automatically spread out shoulder to shoulder and force you either to swing into a doorway until they pass, or off the sidewalk entirely into the street. Women from 35 on up will rip you a new hole to be the first to get to an open seat on the trains or streetcars. I've had similar women push past me in line at cash registers just because they couldn't be bothered to "pay attention to the foreigner."

A few mornings ago, I was walking up to the nearest streetcar platform to catch the tram. I had to cross a fairly wide street, which I did in front of a smaller side street. I got about halfway across when a car pulled up at the intersection of that side street, and the driver immediately rolled down his window, looked right at me and shouted "bag, bag."

At first, I thought he meant my backpack was unzipped again, but it seemed strange he'd be able to see it from that angle, and I could quickly tell it was zipped up tight. He continued pointing at me, so I turned around, and there was my little pocket camera bag lying in the middle of the street. I'd had it clipped on a belt loop with a carabiner, but not very well, and it apparently popped off without my noticing at all. Fortunately, the nearest approaching car was still a block off and I could run back and grab the bag without fear of being hit. I tried thanking the guy, but he just blew me off and quickly swung out into the street to avoid missing his light.

It was lucky, because I probably wouldn't have noticed it was gone for at least half an hour, and I'd have had no idea where to start looking for it. The camera itself was unscathed, too. And, yeah, my faith in humanity has been partially restored for right now.