I was walking in a mall when I came up with a 14-15 year old Somali(?) girl who raised her hand and said briskly, loud and clear: Hi! -- (or the same in some other language).

I thought first that she is someone that I know, then noticed that she was a total stranger, and I also lifted my hand, said hi, and she asked: -- How is it going?

-- Pretty okay, I answered (read: lied, because in reality my life is just misery and suffering).

Of course she was not necessarily Somali, but African anyway. This is not an actual little girl moment, but it brightened this late November evening anyway, it is nice that a teenage girl greets an unknown old man. I'm not saying that I look young, but maybe there is something in my appearance which suggests that I may be youthful.

A few years ago a local girl and a Somali girl (that time she really was a Somali), both maybe 10-12, stopped me in the street and asked: -- Are you going to XXXXXX?

-- No, I replied, because I wasn't actually going there, and back then I was much more paranoid than now, and even if I had not been paranoid, it might not have been a good idea to spend time with little girls that were complete strangers to me.