Remember when I said Raleigh’s downtown was becoming a place known for happy accidents? I got to witness one Friday.
As I watched from my office window two people, apparently strangers, met on Hargett Street. When the scruffy, T-shirt-clad man stopped the better-dressed woman, I thought “oh, here goes. Another panhandler incident.”
I never could have guessed what happened next: the two began to talk excitedly to each other … in sign language!
I sat transfixed as the two conversed with their hands: the man apparently asking directions. I imagined that he might have been lost, perhaps on the verge of desperation, but instead he found just the help he needed. A happy accident.
They parted with a hearty hug, the man beaming at his good fortune. It was just a moment, but a beautiful one.
As they turned to go, they were still signing as they walked away. I returned to my to work having gained a little more appreciation for this city. And for humanity, too.