Peoria

I was walking back from a very hurried lunch, even wondering why my faster-than-normal eating speed seemed to be faster than usual. 

I looked up and saw a man walking towards me.  (This is nothing new - I do live in a big city and work on a busy campus that, in this section, is mostly men)

He was wearing a t-shirt with English writing on it.  (This is also nothing new.  Everyone likes to wear English of some sort on their t-shirts)

The English said, "Peoria Physical Education."  (It was one of those pretend gym class t-shirts)

"Peoria?!" I blurted aloud in surprise. 

The man heard me, looked down at his shirt and started chuckling. 

In return, I got embarrassed by my outburst and just awkwardly said a 'Hello' when I really wanted to stop him and ask him questions, "How do you know about Peoria?"  "Have you ever been there?"  "Where did you get this t-shirt?"  "Is this the Peoria in Illinois?" I also wanted to explain, "I was born there"  However, these were all things that I didn't know how to say.  

So, instead, I continued walking and he continued smiling as we passed. 

And that was that.