Random people

2008. 10. 17

On his way to work, he always runs into these two particular people in the morning. Since Oh commutes in a bicycle, he does not want to put on the brakes, but to rush to the office, beating the traffic. But sometimes he thinks that it would not be such a bad idea to get off the ride and say hello to those two people.

This sounds insane, Oh thinks. But when you think about it, it actually is not that despicable. Of course, it would be awkward and weird, but it would not be that crazy to talk to random people that you bump into every morning. Well, come to think of it, people accost strangers and say "Hi, my name is so and so. I thought you are really beautiful. blah blah blah..so.. Can I get your number?" (Oh's pickup line is way better than that, btw)

Anyways. Sometimes when Oh thinks that he is running late, he hopes to run into them and thus realizes that he is not late actually. And it has occurred. This is a very tiny moment of happiness that one can easily have during a day.

This reminds Oh of his stay in Iowa a few years ago. He took "Society and Language" and it was a lecture. So, there were more than one hundred students in classroom. Oh, as one of a few Asian students in class, was always sitting in 3rd front row. In the class, there was a girl always sitting in the front row. She had a difficulty in hearing and so there was an sign language interpreter with her all the time. This was very shocking to Oh in that this would never happen in his country that is NOT people with disabilities-friendly. And except for the prof, the girl, as Oh, did not talk to anyone, but the interpreter. So, Oh occasionally thought of talking to her and becoming friends, not out of pity or sympathy.

And one day when Oh was walking on campus, someone called him out. Oh did not reckon him at all. But the guy said that he is in "Society and Language" as Oh. And they started to walk together and talk about the class. And it turned out that they both lived in the same dorm, Courier (Shoutout to All the Iowans! Let's go Hawkeyes") So since then, Oh came to have an acquaintance in his class.

Unluckily, Oh does not recall the name of that guy. They did not even exchange email addresses or whatnot. But still that particular day when the sun was beating down on Oh who thus needed to wear a pair of Oakley sunglasses still has its spot in Oh's mind and this is why Oh considered his visitation to Iowa was one of the best times in his life except the fact that he lost his uncle and cousin 10 days apart and there was nothing Oh could not about it besides mourning and suffering.

Back to the random commuters that Oh passes by everyday, one day Oh might muster up courage to say hello, or at least to give them a nodding, or mutual eye contact that says "Hey, you guys. Have a nice day. Although I can not say it out loud."