I think that any city is most of all about the daily lives of people who live in it because they form its living and ongoing story. I believe little everyday moments constitute as much a part of the living history of the city as any significant event. The small moments, in fact, personalise it somehow – because they do make a place our own, in a way. The way we live, where we go, what we do, who we meet… create our memories associated with a given location.  Memories are often strongly connected with places and micro-places within one city and that, in turn, somehow builds up the fabric of the city’s ongoing history. I figure it may be a good idea for me to retain such moments, no matter what they are and try to keep it real. Lublin is a beautiful city and I feel safe here but as in any city various things happen.

An elderly “beau.”
While walking along Krakowskie Przedmieście one afternoon, I was stopped by an elderly man in his late 50s / 60s.

It was right in front of Pedet (PeDeT, Powszechny Dom Towarowy) department store – a modernist building, I think the first department store in Lublin, designed in 1955 towards the end of socialist realism. Krakowskie Przedmieście is in the very centre of Lublin.

PeDeT now : (source: https://www.facebook.com/Galeria-Centrum-Pedet-975001859339185)

PeDeT in the 1970s, photo: Edward Hartwig, Source: http://biblioteka.teatrnn.pl/dlibra/dlibra/docmetadata?id=16941

The man asked me if I knew whether there were any good brands in the store. I said I couldn’t really tell since I don’t shop here (I did use to visit it more frequently a long time ago. Right now I only visit the home goods store located on the ground floor).

After that, he proceeded to tell me that I am his type, things like… oh one travels somewhere and then unexpectedly sees “the one”. I was not comfortable with that; I am still relatively young and do not favour such age gaps.  I chatted with him for a few more minutes, but when he actually tried asking me out, I said: “Sir, I may be your type, but I am afraid that you are not mine”. He let me be on hearing that, I wished him a pleasant afternoon and went my way.

Cheated out of laziness by a confusing bus mistake

This one is so silly and I’m still unsure what happened.

I don’t often use public transport, but I do like to go for it on occasion. It happened one morning that I didn’t feel like walking and decided to use a bus. My surprise was great when I saw that two buses with the same line number arrived but different destinations were marked on their electronic displays. One was marked with the route this line usually takes…and it was the one I got on…except it went in a totally different direction – it went in the direction of another bus that takes a different turn. The strange thing was that inside the bus all the notices still said I was on the right bus.  The other bus with the same number but different direction on its electronic display went on the line’s usual route. So, in the end, I didn’t get very far..got off the next stop, which is very near to my place and ended up walking to my destination anyway. So much for laziness. Was it a matter of ‘go home instead of your destination? I’d really rather think it was more like a sign that I shouldn’t be lazy and walk since it really isn’t that far and taking a bus is too extravagant in this case.  But I’m still not sure what actually happened, those lines were not subject to switching due to roadworks or the start of the school year as far as I can tell, and the company did not mention it on their site.