Following the future

Today, I followed future-me home.

huh?

I was on the subway when a man came on to the train and sat down right in front of me. For some reason I did not immediately understand, I was fascinated by this man and could not take my eyes off of him. Three stops later, this man pulled out his gloves. They were the identical gloves I wear. He put them on. One stops later still, he pulled out his hat. Again, the identical hat of mine. Then I looked down to find more similarities -- he was wearing the identical footwear.

Then I realized why I was inexplicably drawn to this man -- he is me. This was future me.

He even handled the annoying kid with the tennis racket (who almost hit him twice, by the way) in a similar way to how I imagined I would.

I was elated when he got off at my stop.

I decided I was going to follow him and see where future me took me. So I trailed -- a few people behind, never fewer than 8 feet between us.

He walked like I do -- with purpose and direction, obviously having already planned the exact route he was to take out of the station and home. He managed to sneak through cracks of people, successfully swimming upstream in spite of his taller-than-average build.

He got out at the northern most exit of the uptown 86th street stop. He walked north on Lexington -- and just kept walking. I wondered what the fates would bring me while following this man. Will he bring me by my ex-girlfriend's place? No -- she lives on 94th and we were on a local and then he would just go to 96th. As we continued to walk up, I kept thinking. Well, he got on at Union Square with me. Maybe he's a creature of habit -- he is me, after all -- and got on the first train to come and usually takes an express and gets off at 86th so he decided to, anyway. I know that's what I'd do!

I followed, still 5-to-10 feet behind, as we hit a red light at 89th street. I slowed my pace and looked into a shop window trying to make sure my following wasn't noticed. Hmm. Like me, a creature of habit, always going the same direction and taking the same route. But unlike me, stopping at a red light. I NEVER do that! I just go the direction the lights tell me...unless he lives between Lexington and 3rd...

We made it up to 90th street. He crossed and turned right. I turned right without crossing so I could still see him but not be right behind him. He kept walking.

Turns out future-me lives a block away from where present-me lives. He lives on 90th between 1st and 2nd.

For some reason, I got great comfort in the fact that future-me is so close to current-me.

Maybe I'll run into future-me again. Maybe I'll talk to future-me once.

But for now, I'll just fill in my own story and live vicariously through the picture of future-me I decide to paint. Just like the real future-me.