One of them is a South African. He came over to sit next to me on the bus because Pam was dead asleep on the other seat. He was really friendly and seemed genuine so I nodded to sign that I don't mind him taking the seat next to me (the bus was rather crowded). He initiated to chat and I obliged. He was very open to sharing and told me about his plans for the future. He told me he was going to school while working part-time. He told me about his family who were scattered everywhere. Some of what he said didn't really made sense but I attribute it to his poor English and my lack of ability to clearly understand his accent. He even told me about the harsh reality back in Uganda. One thing hit me hard though. He said his father had passed about 2 years ago. His father was a doctor. "Number one in the country," he said. But people were afraid of men with knowledge and so while his father was in his car, (at this point, he used his hand to mimick a gun and then fired twice towards my chest) "BANG BANG!" I sank into my seat in phantom fear and sadness as I said, "I'm sorry to hear".
The next person is an old Irish man. He was clearly drunk out of his mind. But he seemed harmless. We bumped into him while we were on our way. Then, he just said some stuff that made Pam laugh. I was obviously horrible at making sense of the Irish accent so I was just smiling and nodding my way through that. What I did understand was that he told us he just wanted to see us smile. That was heartwarming. And just when you didn't think he could be sweeter, he told us that as young people, we don't have to pay taxes. He told us to enjoy life because everything is tax free. "No taxes for the sunshine, no taxes for the air and no taxes for the rain." He also admitted that he had been drinking and continued to share that his wife had passed. We offered our condolences. He also told us his daughter had just passed and he was going to bury her tomorrow. That hit me right in the gut.
I have to admit that there are certain aspects of the encounters that made me question if the stories were actually true. But I'd rather give them the benefit of the doubt. I believe there is something to take away from. I see incredible courage in both these men and I'm glad I got to come across them on my journey.
