Since my Withdrawal from Mandarin Class, I am in the back of the bus much less frequently.Today, however, I decided to make my way to the Department Store (12 stories high, mind you) for the Japanese food display. There's never a complaint about sampling squid or abalone!
When I found my way to the stop, I made eye contact with a Taiwanese girl near my age. The bus slowed and stopped, and we both moved for the entrance. As she gripped the handle, about to step on board she asked, "Where are you come from?" "Uhh-merica," was my slightly taken-aback reply.
We moved to the back of the bus (my resident location) and sat near each other; her, one seat in front of me. She turned back and made small talk. We exchanged names, and purposes for being on the bus. Where we've traveled, what we do. She asked what State I'm from: "California."
"I know California because 'White'."
"Californiaa.. white?"
"Whi-... It's purple."
"California Purple White?"
"No, no.. uh, Nappa..."
"Oh, Wine. Yeah." I wondered if she wanted to hint at something.
"I don't drink wine."
"Oh, well.. that's good." Guess not.
The bus neared my stop and I hit the button to alert the driver. "Well, it was nice to meet you."
"Well, that was harmless," I thought, "A perfectly normal single-serving friend."
Oh the Joys of Travel.
10 comments:
Haha, you make me laugh. That video was a good touch :p
Your conversation with her made me miss being there. (You never told her name.)
What is the opposite of a single-serving friend? Or is there a spectrum?
A dessert friend?
A buffet friend?
A favorite Mexican restaurant friend?
Or even less...
A morsel friend.
A smidgen friend.
A sample sized friend.
I need more examples...
Don (a recurrent friend?) ;-)
Great clip, great movie.
Great post.
Question: Have you ever had a single serving crush? You know what I'm talking about...those little five minute crushes on waiters or in this case, girls at the back of the bus...
@lynzi come visit again. :) and her name wasn't the point (lilian)
@don good question. Hadn't thought that far, I was just borrowing the analogy. I think you're on to something. But I've got to wonder what a Favorite Mexican Food Restaurant Friend is.
@YoungTraveler I've totally had a single serving crush. Maybe every day at varying degrees. This, however, was not an example of one. (haha)
Love the story. And love that you are from Nappa. :) close to home for me.
These incidents are so common in life.We often forget all about them later.Reminds me of a poem by Ruskin Bond where he meets a poor girl (basket-seller) at the platform and keeps coming back to meet her only for the two seconds for which the train stops.Then one day she is nowhere to be found but the poet still keeps coming back hoping to meet her someday.Yet he doesn't stop at that place lest he should learn something sinister has happened to her.
A conversation like that would have me giving her that wide-eyed, what-a-weirdo look. You know the one?
Was she cute, at least?
Chase,
Just got back from a week's vacation in Oceanside. I made a couple single serving friends. And I thought of a few others single-serving-friends who I met 35 years ago.
Once hitch-hiking from Anaheim to San Luis Obispo I got picked up by a guy who managed a Sambo's. I still recall some of the things we talked about.
Your mountain monk: How many servings?
Sometimes it's not the number of servings that defines the meaningfulness of the relationship.
(And I just got back from my favorite Mexican restaurant... that would be a very good and often visited friend.)
Don
;-)
@Kali, eh... She was more deserving of a "wide-eyed, what-a-weirdo-look"
@Don, wait, what? Hitchhiking? I do believe that needs to make it to your blog sometime soon.
My Medicine Man Friend visits near weekly now. Though there isn't a conversation at length that doesn't give me something to write about.
I miss Mexican Food. My favorite Turkish Couple who make the fantastic burritos (and I mean fantastic) weren't at the Night Market last night... I sort of panicked. Hope to find them next week... they're all I've got. (A friend worth visiting often)
(come to think about it, I could write a blog post about them... if I can track them down and snap a photo of the burrito next weekend, expect to see a post) Mexican Restaurant Friends.
Chase, Coming soon... a post on hitch-hiking. A while ago I decided to post more on the present and future, not looking back... but a sprinkle or two of the past provides a backdrop to who we are now, and who we are becoming.
I'm also going to post on friendship: single servings and more.
Have a great week -- (and glad to hear that you get to converse with your monk friend more frequently.)
Don
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