I waved back at someone who was not waving at me. This was 11 years ago. I think about it weekly.

It was April 2013. I was 22. I was walking out of a convenience store in Koenji. A man across the street raised his hand and looked in my direction. I raised my hand. I waved. I smiled. It was a good wave. Confident. Friendly. The wave of a man who is comfortable in social situations. He walked past me toward the person standing directly behind me. They embraced. They were clearly old friends who had not seen each other in some time. I completed my wave. There was no way to un-wave. The wave was already in the world. I turned and walked away at a pace that I hoped communicated "I meant to do that" while also communicating "please do not acknowledge what just happened." I was 22. I am now 33. I think about this wave approximately once per week. Sometimes twice. It visits me at 2am. It visits me in the shower. It visited me during a job interview in 2019 and I lost my train of thought for 4 seconds in the middle of answering a question about my five-year plan. Send $1. There is a part 2. It happened again. Different location. Same energy. 🙏