I started my first walk into the streets of New Jersey; on my own. There was a cold wind blowing outside. Flurries were falling. It took me a while to realize that it was almost snowing. I put on my woollen cap. As I crossed the next street, Subway came into view. Well, well. Now we're talking!

I made my way in. I went to the counter and looked for the 'Veggie Delite'. I found it shortly. The choice of vegetables, bread and cheese. He was asking me so many questions that I chose 'American Bread' and 'Honey Oat cheese' instead of 'American cheese' and 'honey oat bread'. Apparently he understood and agreed to process my request. Then came the vegetables. There was red onion (what! I thought onions were always red!), tomatoes, jalapanoes, cabbage and something else I coundn't quite figure out. I chose the familiar ones. He started filling my sub up. I looked around the place. Just a couple of guys around. I happened to look into the eyes of one guy standing beside me waiting for his order. Then suddenly, out of the blue, he said, 'Hi! How-ya doin?'.

I was pretty sure I had never seen him before. But he had said it. He kept looking at me waiting for a reply. I was stymied with fear and indecision. Who is this guy?!! And why the hell is he so interested in how I am doing? After a long moment, I smiled. He looked at me strangely; it was a mix of incredulity and amusement. He continued staring at me. By the way, I am reasonably good at returning a stare. So I stared back, without knowing what I had said, or didn't say. The man behind the counter came to my rescue. He handed this lunatic his order and sent him on his way. I kept staring at his back, ready to return the stare the moment he were to turn back and do it again. He never did.

I looked back at the guy who had taken my order. He had just finished filling up my sub. Whoa! Where is the filling, dude?!! All I could see was one piece of tomato, exactly four strands of 'red onion', one cucumber ring, a grand helping of jalapanoes and some cheese. It looked quite dead. A Chennai Subway would have put in a little more than two times what he had put in. Come on! Well, I didn't argue. It would have been to no end. I was sure this guy would just look down upon me with contempt if I did.

I needed something to drink. Water? What's that? There were about ten little silos ready to spew out crap like Coke, Pepsi, 7 up, etc. I chose a Coke. Bill please. 4$ and 38 cents. I pulled out my wallet, pulled out a 20$ bill (that word from the movies too). The conversion process began involuntarily. I paid close to Rs. 180/- for a dead Sub. I reluctantly surrendered the bill to this guy. What he did next, I truly hadn't expected. He retuned 15$ in bills and pulled out a little white container (like those we get from homoeopathy doctors.) and counted 62 cents. Now I had 10 coins more with me; four 10 cent, four 5 cent and two 1 cent coins. I pocketed them. I felt remarkably heavier with these new entrants. My pyjama pocket was tugging at the pyjama relentlessly. I pulled it up for the fifth time and moved on to the shopping complex another couple of hundred yards away.

There ends my day out.