2002-05-16 - 10:09 a.m.


last night i was at the kimball station and sat on the stone bench by my bus stop. to my left, there was a fellow in a wheelchair with a contraption on his leg who kept looking at me. he started asking me stuff and he'd say things like "where are you from? korea? korean ladies so nice"

i was kinda annoyed at first becaues it's not like i haven't heard generalities about korean people at cta stops before, but this guy got more interesting. he presented a pink petunia he picked (palliteration) from the large pot near him. he handed it to me and said "flores" quite a lot. it's not often that i get flowers, and i got a kick out of receiving one plucked from what is probably part of one of the mayor's public beautification projects from a romanian man who says he knows some spanish and italian.

then he must have thought to himself that he could do better, because he took out this big plastic garbage bag and removed a big clump of dirt from it. he located some roots, broke the clump in half, and gave me a half in a plastic cup.

i still find it a surprise every time a stranger does something nice for me. and i think i ought to be nice to strangers too but i'm not too good at starting conversations. i don't really know who i'd talk to anyhow. if i ever really wanted to say hello to someone i think i'd find a way though.


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