I left work at 9:30pm tonight and walked out onto the rainy streets of NYC. It was the most romantic kind of precipitation, warm and only lightly falling. The kind of rain that’s not worth raising an umbrella to, that’s easy to bike in. As I walked towards the rack of Citibikes on 22nd Street, a man rode up to the other end of the dock. He got off this bike and I realized this was my chance to avoid a soggy bottom. Even the lightest rain collects on a bike seat if it’s exposed to the elements while sitting in a bike dock. But the one this dude had just been sitting on would be perfectly dry!

I started running towards him. “Oh! I want your dry seat!” I exclaimed. He looked at me like I was a nut job. I didn’t blame him. It absolutely sounded like I was ineptly catcalling him. Eh, I wasn’t going to explain myself. I could easily just jump on his bike, ride away, and never see him again. He’d have a fun story to tell his friends, “I swear, she said, ‘Dry seat’! Wtf!”

15 seconds later understanding spread across his face. He laughed. “Take it!” He said, All yours!” We smiled at each other and then turned away. I struggled to lower the seat, he was significantly taller than me, while blocking it from the rain. By the time I adjusted it to the perfect height, he’d turned back around. “Maybe you’re into water conservation too,” he said and handed me his card. I laughed, “Sure! Thanks!” and biked away.

I spent years hoping cute men would hand me their card over a brief interaction at a Citibike station. Citibike (NYC’s bike-share program) is literally the only thing I do where the male to female ration is in my favor. I would have agonized over every moment with this bike guy- was he giving me the card because he was just thirsty for business? Should I text the number? Was he a water conservation fanatic so dedicated to the cause he gives his card to everyone? He didn’t even know my name! I would have filled multiple friend text chains looking for advice. It would have occupied my mind for days.

But today I got to just bike away and never seen him again. Speeding down 22nd Street, I felt so free. The sky flashed with lightning, I could even see the bolts zig-zag across the sky. On my way home, I called my boyfriend and told him about my day.