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I looked at my watch before I rushed into the railway station, there was still one minute away until the next train came. “Lucky me”, I said to myself. Just stepped in, the train cancellation announced over my head. “Shit!”, jumped out of my mouth without a second thought. Then I heard a nice friendly geegerling from a lady. My action was so understandable, and even being supported. Ok, have a nice day lady. The train finally came and no surprise it was too full to find a seat. So I picked a nice place to hold something to stand. Thinking about the long journey, it was not a relaxing trip. Next station came. Piles of people crowed into the train. A greyed hair man stood beside me. Some 50 years old, dressed not very cleanly. Looked like a man working on a building site. “ Too many people”, he started talking to me. I tried to respond to him in a few words as I was not very excited in this busy and hard morning. …… “Too many people in the world!” – My ears suddenly stood up – “ Come on man, don’t you think I am Chinese?” – well, talked to myself in the heart –“ this is a little too sensitive for a Chinese”. I still appeared to be a gentleman and inactively responded to him by saying “ ah” “ yeah”… Blah, blah…. Sometimes I had to pretend to know what he was talking about as I was struggling with his accent. “ I am nearly 80” --- what, my ears stood up agin. “ Those a-saxon people have wrong genes, they finished when they are 70.” I couldn’t help my smiling. An old lady not far from us laughed. We looked at each other and laughed with kind of mutual understanding. “ Where I lived before near the border of Russia and Poland, it is common many people live in their 140 and 150”. – really, did I hear it wrong?---“ yes, it is common” the man confirmed. “ The things they eat are rubbish,….” “ See my teeth, they are all here”, he opened his mouth and showed me natural healthy teeth, although not much cleaner than mine. – that is unbelievable for a man 80 years old. “ It cost me 4000 dollars to fix up one tooth”… Fortunately the lady sat beside us left and hence there was a vacant seat. “ Take the seat, please”, gentleman as I was. “ You take the seat”—courtesy he was. “No, you are 80”, I insisted. “ You take the seat, as you young people have to work for a whole day”, the old man said to a teenager lady beside us. Of course the girl refused a couple of times. Then she took it out of my surprise! – Lady first, ah, what a man, what a lady! Blah, Blah… Nearly got to my destination, I politely said “I’d have to get out of here. Nice talking to you!” The man kept talking which I have no ability to listen. The train stopped and I stepped out. “Excuse me! Excuse me!” – came from the train behind me. “ I have to get out!” I turned around and here came the man! “I have to get out of here myself”, the man said to me… “ I have to do some fence work for my friend…” Then he went one way and I went the other. What a morning, I waited for the tram and thought if I should post this interesting man here. |
