Sarah Berman

My first date with my boyfriend was pretty average, a springtime walk followed by pizza. Sure, he was nice, a good listener and had dreamy blue eyes, but I wasn’t getting the butterflies. Well, not until the bill arrived. Brian kindly took care of it. Without missing a beat, he calculated everything in his head and returned to the conversation. I could see the suggested tips weren’t printed at the bottom of the check.

One summer day before my freshman year of college, I visited a fortune teller. I was nervous about being a college athlete, navigating a boy “situation” and heading to upstate New York for the next four years. I wanted some advice. I hoped this stranger with a card table on the sidewalk could reassure me I was making the right decisions in exchange for me handing her $90 in cash, no strings attached. I considered it an act of self-care, not a spiritual awakening. Still, I was nervous.