Hitting the street

On this stretch of the Wilshire Blvd I experienced a most remarkable encounter. There I was, casually perambulating with my camera and tripod, when I noticed a middle-aged, well-dressed woman in my path. At the next moment, still some 15 feet away, she suddenly fell flat on the ground.

Alarmed by this event unfolding before my eyes, I rushed forward to help the lady. However, as I approached her, I began to get a hunch of that something wasn't quite right. For one thing, as she lied flat on the ground, she was smiling. Literally beaming. As I reached her, her face suddenly became more serious. 'I hurt my knee in an accident last year, and there's no-one I can sue for it', her seemingly well-rehearsed explanation began.

Smelling a rat, I helped her back on her feet, and made sure she was okay. She tried to launch into a second conversation. 'I'm Lisa, glad to meet you. Oh, what's your name? Where do you work? Oh, you're from Finland, I'm originally from there as well! ..' Lady, whatever. In the end, I could only speculate that she was one of the countless aspiring actresses in the area, and that my camera and tripod made her think I was connected to the movie industry. And whereas this interpretation may sound cynical, I saw absolutely nothing wrong in her leg as she ran off..