File this under "What if?"

In my family we are all story tellers.  We get it from both of my parents.  Mom is a natural storyteller, she is a teacher, she knows stories.  She knows how to build a dramatic crescendo, and has amazing comic timing.  Dad, he was a bit of a lyric storyteller.  He delighted in language, rolled it around in his mouth a bit, savored it.  He told his stories in at a lolling easy pace.  He took his time with stories.  If you're going to tell a story tell it right.  He would build up to what seemed to be the end of the tale and roll forward to deliver subtle, nuanced, wicked deadpan punchlines. He loved to tell a good story.  


But we all do. So that's why I wrote this down.


It's a story about something that really happened.  But more than that it's the idea of what could have happened, what would have made a better story.  Because really it's not much of a story, it's just the perfect beginning for something better.  Something that didn't actually happen.  And it's winter so naturally it's about skiing.

If I ever meet anyone it will probably be on a chairlift. I think its because I like the anonymity of the chairlift.  You can't really see people in the cold.  I mean it's not that you are snow blind, or people turn invisible.  But everyone is bundled up in the cold. Hats, gloves, bulky coats, scarves, helmets, buffs, goggles, balaclavas... you may see a mouth or eyes through tinted lenses but you don't really see people.  You listen to them. Their voices, accents... you notice these things.   And you notice what people talk about.  Standard conversation starts off with the weather, the conditions... things you've seen on the mountain that day.  It's all very superficial but because you are trapped together for a while you may as well talk.  You can ride up with friends or strangers, but I like to talk to everyone.  Boys, girls, men, women, everyone is a potential buddy on the lift.  The world is a little smaller when you are sitting together floating up the mountainside. Today I got tangled up with a snowboarder getting off the lift.  And after it happened I thought this would be a great "How we met" story.  My parents met in the unemployment line... great story.   So I had been chatting with this guy on the lift.  It was a quad but there were only three of us, he was in the middle.  I was on the left.  We talked about snow conditions, he talked about how his snowboard was three seasons old, I said that was as long as I'd been skiing.  It was all very congenial and pleasant.   As we prepared to get off the lift he told me to have a good run.  We stood up and I could feel something was off with my right ski.  I felt too close to his snowboard, maybe I was on his snowboard.  He had leaned in on me a little, I turned  and looked up at him.  Our faces where inches apart, he was pressed against my shoulder for balance. We shared a moment of confusion not sure why we were in this position.  He laughed "Sorry" leaning right to snowboard away.  "It's okay."  and I leaned on my left ski to ski away.  And that's when I felt my right ski get pulled out from under me.  It kept pulling.  I called out "You have my ski!" I shifted my weight onto the right ski and ended up next to him.  "I was trying to lean towards you so you wouldn't fall." he rushed... "I don't know what..." I looked down at my ski, the tail was over his snowboard, I couldn't  pull it away.  And that's when I saw it.  The buckle of his open binding had caught the brake of my right ski.  "You're caught on my brake." I told him with a smile. He grinned, leaned over and unhooked the buckle. "I didn't know what had happened!" I laughed "It was our magnetic personalities that drew us together!" In a perfect world, that's where the story would end, or rather begin.  That would be how we met.  We would have skied and snowboarded down Tenth Mountain,  Maybe meet up in the lift line again, maybe at the bar.  When people would ask us years later how we met, we'd laugh and laugh about it.   But that's not what happened.  What happened was he followed up my line about magnetic personalities with a line to his girlfriend who had been on the lift with us.  He said "Sorry honey, I'm attached!"   I smiled at her and said "I'm sorry.. I tried to steal him but he'd rather be with you"  And we parted ways.  He wasn't someone I was particularly interested in.  But I couldn't help think, that it would have made a great story about how we first met.