Every Monday and Wednesday I get on the 8:49 bus to get to my class at 9:30. Normally, by the time I get there I have about 25 minutes to print things off for all my classes for the week. So when I woke up 20 min. late and missed this 8:49 bus, you can imagine the pre-panic mode setting in as I sat down at the bench to figure out if waiting for the next one would be faster than just walking across campus. Just when I had decided I would go ahead and walk, an Asian man walked up asking when the next bus would be here. His accent was extremely thick and I had to watch his lips carefully to fully comprehend the question. Needless to say, I sat back down and he began asking me all sorts of questions, mostly small talk at first. He told me he was late for class, and that I was lucky mine wasnt until later, and if he were me hed still be asleep (which is prob. why he was in this predicament in the first place).. ANYWAY, I asked what class he was headed to and with much chagrin he told me a writing help session at the Asian Culture Center and that he was struggling. I asked if he was stressed out a little, and he responded with, not little. BIG stress. Very big stress. I told him that writing was not an easy subject, especially for someone not accustomed to English in the first place and that even though I loved to write, it was still challenging. He smiled a rather large smile, and his eyes grew round as he asked, you..you LIKE to write? You write for fun & not work? I said, Oh yes, all the time. Writing is definitely my strength...now math is something entirely different. He said, You help me? You speak so well. I need help. Ill pay you! I thought he was kidding and I laughed, saying, Im not a professional, its just a subject I enjoy. There are tons of tutors here that would be great to talk to! He shook his head and he put his palms together like he was praying and asked me again to help him. I said, wait, do you mean grammar? Like sentence structure and paragraph construction? and he said, OH YES. OH YES. OH YES. So I just sat there, looking at him for a few seconds, without speaking. His eyes seemed incredibly kind and he had those small wrinkles in the corner, from smiling so emphatically and quite often, I would imagine. I thought, how am I supposed to say no to this sweet little man, it would be like saying no to the cashier when they ask if you want to round up and buy sick children school supplies or something. (I mean seriously, they get me every time.) Anyway, I agreed and the joy plastered all over his face made me smile along with him. He put his hands on his cheeks and he said, Oh! Thank you. Thank you. I honor you. You...Youre nice, nice lady. Fancy lady. So kind. And when I told him my major was Speech/Language Pathology he looked as if he might cry. He told me I had just lifted pounds and pounds from his shoulders. We exchanged contact info and as my bus came he pointed up and said, I pray that you, me...you and I are well today. We have great day. I said, Thank you! Yes, everyone, hopefully we all have a great day, and he shook his head, saying, uhh, no. No room for everyone, just for you and for me, two great day, which of course made me laugh to myself the whole ride to class. I guess there was a reason I missed that dang 8:49 bus. (p.s. I still made it to class 10 minutes early...whew!)
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 01:37:54 +0000
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