So there I was that Friday in July, wandering around Coventry’s indoor-outdoor downtown shopping center/shopping mall after taking those fountain photos by the cathedral. A woman walked toward me.  As she approached, she said she would sell me a lucky charm for a mere 10 pounds (~$15) that would make me lucky in love. I smiled at her novel approach for asking for money, but turned her down nonetheless.

She then said that if I bought the charm she would predict whether or not I would ever be loved by someone. I smiled again and replied that I didn’t need the lucky charm to know that, as I already knew I was loved by someone.

The fortune-teller then ventured that I probably worried too much about things in general, and the lucky charm could help with that. However, I countered with the fact that actually I don’t worry about things all that much anymore, so I really didn’t need her lucky charm.

She then predicted —free of charge  — that I would be attending a wedding very soon; for 10 euros she would now read my palm and tell me more about that. I laughed and said that I was already married, so I didn’t think a wedding was in my future.

To her credit, she was trying every trick in the book – you had to give her points for persistence.

However, when none of her creative approaches resulted in me forking over any cash, she gave up and just asked me to give her 10 pounds anyway. That request was no more successful than her previous entreaties had been, however, and so that was that.

Now, even though this would-be fortune-teller didn’t seem to be able to divine a good way to read my fortune, it was an altogether amusing alternative to the standard “please give me money” approach of the other beggars I’ve run into recently. So, had I had a coin in my pocket I probably would have given her a 1 pound coin, just because I found the whole exchange so entertaining. Unfortunately for her, though, I didn’t have any coins on me at that moment. So, I just smiled once more and thanked her, and then  went on my way. I didn’t really give it a second thought.

Until…

Later that day, I logged into email to check on something regarding our planned travel the following day. While looking in my email Inbox, I saw a message from a friend of mine in Tübingen. Her message came with some surprising news: she and her long-time boyfriend had suddenly decided to get married, and she was writing to ask if I was going to be back in Tübingen by Monday (two days hence), as that was when the wedding was going to take place.

Which meant that the fortune-teller had been correct: I was in fact going to be attending a wedding very soon.

Clearly, I’ll have to look up that fortune-teller the next time I’m in Coventry — I think I may owe her 10 pounds after all. 😉