Way back in the dark ages (before cell phones, social media etc.) I went to Disney with my father and we went to meet up with a friend of his who lived nearby. I mention the era because I guess he didn't realize his friend was having some trouble with his lifestyle, seriously enough that our brunch plan was clearly cancelled.

The guy had an extremely cool girlfriend. At least, the image that I have of her in my mind is extremely cool. I have no clue how accurate this is, I was in early elementary school, but the way she lives in my memory, she had HUGE curly blonde hair, a high pitch voice, pale-wash jeans (might've been shorts) and a totally badass leather jacket. Think like Olivia Newton John in Grease.

My dad and his friend were taking awhile with whatever was going on, and she asked me, "hey, do you wanna get some boardwalk fries?"

And I looked at her, and I judged her in my mind. I was a hermione-ish child, verbose, serious, rule-following, and extremely risk-averse. When I said yes, I didn't say it lightly.

I considered that I saw the boardwalk fries standing on the way into the house, I knew where it was, and it was very close, broad daylight, crowded, inches from Disney... not sketchy at all.

I thought about how my father left us on our own and therefore he must at least somewhat trust her, which backed up my gut instinct, which was that ultimately she just felt like a nice and good person on some level I still don't understand.

The only issue was that she didn't tell anyone she was absconding with the elementary-aged child of her boyfriend's friend in an era before cell phones, and I didn't think of it either, she just walked off with me.

Everything was fine. I don't remember what we talked about, just that it was unusually pleasant for a conversation with a stranger, we walked up to the boardwalk, got some delicious fries, and went back...

To find my father, absolutely furious with her. With good reason! But honestly, she was legit just super sweet, my character judgment was spot-on, and I still think about her often. She didn't mean any harm. It was just an awkward situation and she was trying to be friendly and helpful.

I still think about her to this day, and I hope she's doing well and she's happy out there, wherever she is.