Yesterday afternoon, I was on my way to the 112th Golden Dragon Parade and Festival located in downtown Los Angeles. As always, I decided to take the bus not only because I have not transitioned over into getting a vehicle but also because I genuinely love the comedy that takes place on Metro public transportation. I boarded the number 2 headed south-east.
As of late, I have began sitting on the inside seat because I absolutely get urked when people take up two seats and as a result, I found it important to stop being a fucking hypocrite. Music blaring in my ears as an older man approached the seat adjacent to me. At first, he inched by me and I was relieved but he quickly returned and sat down next to me. Reeking of alcohol (I think it was whiskey), I immediately wished he would find another seat, but did not attempt to make my thoughts known.
Seconds later he began to talk to me, "going to see my grandchildren today...it's my first time, but today I am going to do it." As I nodded my head and gestured, 'ok, ok,' I returned to my music and gazed out of the window. "Got my teeth in my bag here, even shaved off my mustache and beard for my grandchildren, I am going to see them for the first day today." In my head, I thought, "didn't this fool just say the exact same thing?" "If I had to do it all over again, I would not change a thing," he told me as if he was referring to drinking and not seeing his grandchildren earlier. "If I had to do it all over again, I would have lived the same life I lived because now I have learned."
As of now, my ears became a bit more alert and I realized that my initial judgments kept me from listening to his words from the very beginning. "Hmm, hmm I tell you, you have to live your own life and make your own mistakes - by doing that, you will have no one else to blame." Soon after, he gestured adieu and left the bus.
Guardian angel? No. Soothsayer? Nawwww. Wise man? Maybe. But more than anything, it was a lesson learned during an ordinary day.
Go Forth.
One Life, You Decide™
