15 minutes of fame

I just had a very surreal experience on the street!

To wit: I eschewed the team lunch just now and headed out to get some noodles. Because after the many trifle incidents over Christmas, a team lunch involving pizza and wine is not what I need right now. Light Japanese noodles are much more what I need right now. In a small size.

But do you think any of my favourite places were open? No they were not. I found this out after I trekked all the way across town in the 30 degree heat only to find that Yen Sushi Noodle is closed until January 12.

Okay, I thought, Ume Sushi it is. So I trekked all the back across town, only to find that Ume Sushi is closed until January 19. Insert swear words here.

Okay, I thought. I'll go the newsagent and pick up a copy of that magazine I've been meaning to get for a friend.....

So I'm walking up the road, in the heat, when I spy a woman in a cute skirt - it was the skirt that caught my attention at first, it was mid-thigh length in a tulip cut and made out of some lovely blue patterned material - and she was loaded down with bags. January sales, I expect.

But lo and behold, when I look closer I notice that slung over her right shoulder is my red Vespa tote bag!!

Of course I don't mean "my" actual tote bag - I mean one of the bags that I sell at my monthly market stall. It's made out of lovely Echino material from Japan, I'll post a photo of the bag itself in the next day or so. It gave me such a rush to see it on a real live person. And it was jam-packed with stuff too, it was really doing some work for her.

I really had to resist the urge to rush up and tap her on the shoulder and proudly proclaim its provenance (see your bag? I made your bag! It was me!). I thought that might be a bit much though, not to mention a bit full of myself - viz conflicting feelings mentioned earlier.

But we got to the traffic lights at more or less the same time and I have to say, I couldn't help beaming a big smile at her, which she was probably either confused or startled by, coming out of nowhere as it did.

It was a great feeling. So I trotted off to the newsagent to get the magazine, feeling all shiny and pleased with myself.

Inside the newsagent a woman was flicking through the particular magazine that I wanted ... it's a wedding magazine. And as I paused and tsked and waited, mentally tapping my foot, she flicked through the pages and paused at the one where My One True Love and I and our wedding is featured on a page.

I think she felt my rosy glow, because she looked over her shoulder at me (and my rather big smile) and put the magazine back on the rack- perhaps she could feel my hot breath on the back of her neck - and so I was able to snatch it up as casually as possible before stampeding over to the cash register to pay for it before someone else did.

Two moments of fame within earshot of each other - I'm all aflush with feelings of happiness. And just think, if either of my noodle bars had been open, I'd never have known. I'd have had my lunch and wandered back to work in the heat, none the wiser.

Instead, I bought two sushi rolls and ate them, virtuously.