You were four teenagers—Boy 1, Boy 2, Boy 3, and Girl—walking north on Third Avenue around 80th Street. You were taking up too much of the sidewalk, but about mid-block I managed to get around You.
As I passed You, this is what I heard:
GIRL: Yo! This is like The Wizard of Oz. And I’m Dorothy.
BOY 1: I’m the Tin Man.
BOY 2: And you’re the Scarecrow.
BOY 3: Why am I the Scarecrow?
I wanted to ask You, why are you doing that? Why are you speaking the way writers make teenagers speak in movies? But I was afraid I “just wouldn’t understand.”
—
When I posted this to Craigslist Missed Connections, I got the following response.
SUBJECT: Crazytown.Thu, February 25, 2010 10:17:35 PM
From: To: pers-z9frj-1617864933@craigslist.org
I know your writing. Is this a test of sorts to see if I would be able to recognize you in the crowd of CL? The question is, will you recognize me with my secret GMAIL address?
Tags: boys, Dorothy, Girls, movies, Scarecrow, teenagers, The Wizard of Oz, Tin Man