Indeed. That usage of "so" is very different from (imagine a person telling a story) "So I was walking in the park the other day...", in which case the "so" is

Indeed. That usage of "so" is very different from (imagine a person telling a story) "So I was walking in the park the other day...", in which case the "so" is said very quickly and almost blends into the next word (unstressed "so" followed by stressed next syllable - subconsciously converting into iambic meter, maybe?).