“Let me set a pick for you”

Dressed in garden-and-shopping clothes, I stood by the edge of a parking lot crossing. It was about noon on a weekday, and the cars were zipping by, without a thought that I might want to cross.

Then an SUV stopped, and a woman yelled from her open vehicle window, “Let me set a pick for you!” I stepped gratefully and quickly across the great divide and went on my merry shopping way.

But wait—did I know her? What an unusual thing to say . . .

If I did know and didn’t recognize you, I'm sorry that I didn't say hi--the sun was in my eyes. Thank you. If I didn’t know you, also thank you, for both that action and the opportunity to reflect.

Two thoughts: how great that a basketball expression should find it’s way into usage between two unacquainted women in a shopping center parking lot. Title IX has had many unexpected repercussions.

And what a nice expression “Let me set a pick for you” is: a metaphor for an opportunity to make another’s life easier.