You are learning meeting people: you will read the scene it happens in, take apart the pattern behind them (meeting + conversation verbs in past), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.
A food truck encounter in Midtown. You're in line, you start talking, you connect. Meeting people in the past tense — how New York friendships begin, often over food.
Last Tuesday, I went to the Halal Guys food cart on 53rd and 6th Avenue. The line was long — about twenty people. I didn't mind. That's how you know the food is good.
The woman in front of me turned around and said, "First time?" I told her yes. She laughed. "You're going to love it. Get the combo — chicken and lamb over rice with white sauce and hot sauce."
We chatted while we waited. She told me she came here every week. She was from Queens originally but worked in Midtown. I found out we both loved street food.
We got our food and sat on a bench nearby. We ate and talked about the best food spots in the city. She recommended a dim sum place in Chinatown. Before we left, we exchanged numbers.
I met a friend because I stood in a food line. Only in New York.