a stranger
On the corner, across the street where I work, slowly, throughout the day, hippies gather to sell their jewelry. I pass by this corner all the time, coming through and fro from my job and the mall, where I do all my errands. On this particular day, one of the hippies called out to me.
This is the second time this year, I've been stopped by a hippy. It's quite marvelous, really. They usually try to sell their jewelry, but believe it or not, I never have the money at each given time. He first greeted me by taking my hand and kissing it. Which is not very normal for a Brazilian male to do, however, I found out that he had an accent. As he started asking me about myself, I found out he was from Argentina. He asked me if I liked hand-made jewelry and I told him excitedly that I loved it, but unfortunately, didn't have any money to help him out on that day. He believed me, thankfully, because it was true, and told me he was going to make me something anyways. So as he started to make a little knick knack for me, I was amazed at what an amazing human being this man was. He made sure to talk to me and find out about my life and soon found out that I was learning Spanish. It was then he started speaking to me in Spanish and asking me if I preffered stars or butterflies. Butterflies, of course. Mariposa! Mariposa in Spanish is the same for butterflies and moths, he informed me. I told him that my Spanish teacher was also from Argentina, and it was then he noticed the broche on my bag. My Spanish teacher had gone to Argentina recently and had brought it back for me. He seemed proud to know that I was wearing an Argentinian flag. He finished my present and told me to have a wonderful day, and kissed me on the cheek. I walked away, charmed by the way he had treated me. I decided I wanted to go to Argentina and find a man like that.
I'm just kidding about finding a man in Argentina, of course, but it makes you wonder. Why do we not treat each other with the same love and respect, as this man did to me, who was a complete stranger? I walked by later, and saw that he was treating with the same courtesy, another customer. I'm not saying, we should all go around kiss each other's hands! However, I do think, we've lost the essence of being kind and courteous to our neighbor. We should always treat each other, the way we'd like to be treated. I realized that I haven't been treated by any of my friends in that way. It's not that I'm complaining, but it's true. I don't know if it's the culture, the society, or the way we live today. However, we have become more individualistic, and because of that it effects how we treat each other. We think about ourselves before we think of anybody else.
I wish to know people who want to live in a community, who know what it means to treat each other with love and kindness. Who know others just as much as they know themselves.
Did I say I wanted to be a hippy?
This is the second time this year, I've been stopped by a hippy. It's quite marvelous, really. They usually try to sell their jewelry, but believe it or not, I never have the money at each given time. He first greeted me by taking my hand and kissing it. Which is not very normal for a Brazilian male to do, however, I found out that he had an accent. As he started asking me about myself, I found out he was from Argentina. He asked me if I liked hand-made jewelry and I told him excitedly that I loved it, but unfortunately, didn't have any money to help him out on that day. He believed me, thankfully, because it was true, and told me he was going to make me something anyways. So as he started to make a little knick knack for me, I was amazed at what an amazing human being this man was. He made sure to talk to me and find out about my life and soon found out that I was learning Spanish. It was then he started speaking to me in Spanish and asking me if I preffered stars or butterflies. Butterflies, of course. Mariposa! Mariposa in Spanish is the same for butterflies and moths, he informed me. I told him that my Spanish teacher was also from Argentina, and it was then he noticed the broche on my bag. My Spanish teacher had gone to Argentina recently and had brought it back for me. He seemed proud to know that I was wearing an Argentinian flag. He finished my present and told me to have a wonderful day, and kissed me on the cheek. I walked away, charmed by the way he had treated me. I decided I wanted to go to Argentina and find a man like that.
I'm just kidding about finding a man in Argentina, of course, but it makes you wonder. Why do we not treat each other with the same love and respect, as this man did to me, who was a complete stranger? I walked by later, and saw that he was treating with the same courtesy, another customer. I'm not saying, we should all go around kiss each other's hands! However, I do think, we've lost the essence of being kind and courteous to our neighbor. We should always treat each other, the way we'd like to be treated. I realized that I haven't been treated by any of my friends in that way. It's not that I'm complaining, but it's true. I don't know if it's the culture, the society, or the way we live today. However, we have become more individualistic, and because of that it effects how we treat each other. We think about ourselves before we think of anybody else.
I wish to know people who want to live in a community, who know what it means to treat each other with love and kindness. Who know others just as much as they know themselves.
Did I say I wanted to be a hippy?
Wow that's really cool. He sounds like a very down to earth and nice guy. And you're right, i think we don't treat each other that way because we're too caught up in ourselves and our own problems. Honestly i think insecurity that keeps us from acting that way. Some people can't love like that because they're not at peace with their own lives. anways, dang! a kiss on the cheek! I wanna visit this guy...
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