One night, while riding the subway, I encountered an actual gypsy. They had the appearance of someone whose hygiene had filed a restraining order. Many of the words spoken by them became snagged on the few teeth that hadn’t abandoned ship, resulting in communication difficulty. I had no clue what they were talking about, although it seemed quite important to them.
Through simple persistence, I eventually figured out they required change for a dollar, although they had no dollar. They only wanted that much change. Based on the difference in our appearance, it didn’t seem like they were asking for much. I handed them all of my pocket change and two one-dollar bills. It was just about four dollars total.
Their facial expression changed greatly. You would have thought I had just handed him a gold bar. He took hold of my hand and mumbled something, smiling and bouncing a little with delight. A passenger who had been sitting on the seat just to our left said, “He gave you a Gypsy blessing.”
The gypsy got off the subway
at the next stop. I was not familiar at
all with gypsy blessings, but I doubted four dollars’ worth was going to
change my life. I made a comment to that
affect to the gentleman seated across from me, and he said, “Don’t be too sure.”
to be continued
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