Sydney Fortune Tellers

Strolling down George St. with map in hand and camera slung across one shoulder, I was enjoying the workday bustle of Sydney as the quintessential tourist. From behind my sunglasses, I noticed an Arab man in the crowd headed my direction. With a dark sapphire turban and a little bowed-legged limp, he stood out among the black suited business workers in the CBD.

As we neared each other, he suddenly looked to me and said, "I see it in your eyes behind your glasses. You will be (??)lucky in the next few days." Wait, did he say "lucky" or "unlucky"? The sounds of traffic had covered up the most important part of his prophecy! But before I could ask to clarify, the man had disappeared into the crowds.

For a moment, I stood there puzzling over his words. Though I typically don't dwell on fortunes, it is slightly disconcerting when a sixty year old Middle Eastern man singles you from of the thousands on the street to give his prophecy, and its most disconcerting to have the critical piece inaudible!

As I had no way of determining the entirety of his words, I tried convincing myself that he had said "You will be lucky," that my glass is half full. Nevertheless, part of me still wanted to believe otherwise. However, I resolved to put this little incident behind me, that is until a few hours later.

After exploring the Circular Quay, I headed for the harbourside Royal Botanical Gardens. The lush green lawns beckoned to me, literally, with their signs inviting me to "Walk, Sit and Picnic upon them." I followed their biddings and selected a sunny spot upon a slope to enjoy the harbor vantage.

The Botanic Gardens are the lawns at the bottom of the beautiful pic of the CBD.

Suddenly, another Muslim man about thirty years of age walks up to me in the park and says, "I see it in your eyes, you will have good fortune in the next few days."

Hun?? Taken aback by the reference to eyes and fortune again, I declared "You're the second person who's told me that today."

"I can read it in your eyes and I can tell you more," he said. Was there really something about me that day that called the attention of fortune tellers? My traveler radar sounded and part of me reacted: Tourist Gimmick! But Australia isn't known to hassle tourists. I've been traveling around the country for two months and nothing like this has yet happened. Could the Arabic men really see something beyond what I saw?

My self defensive instinct kicked in, "I'm sorry, but I don't have any money."

"That's okay. You will have one good fortune and two people will be jealous of you. I can tell you more and you can decide what you want to give me afterwards," he continued good naturedly.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't have any money to give," I replied again. "Thanks though."
"Have a good day then." And he left.

Regardless, curiosity piqued, I decided to do as they do in the movies: follow this man and see what he would do. I allowed him to walk about 100m away before I began to trail him. Though outfitted in black, his blue baseball cap made him easy to spot from a distance. He meandered around the park a bit, and turned around a few times. I kept feeling as if he knew I was trailing him--following someone undetected it hard. Nothing occurred and after about 5 minutes, I let him go as I continued on my exploration of the park.

As I recount the conversation with the second man now, it does seem like the ultimate scam: tell people their "fortune" (always good of course) and then get money for it. But it was the coincidence of meeting two fortune events in one day, in a country not known for schemes such as this, that made the experience seem semi-believable. All in all, I would like to believe that I will have good fortune because "It's in my eyes."