the shared human experience

On boring or lonely days, I would ride the bus from my apartment to McDonald's to remember what it was like to be an American. I would sit in silence for about 30 minutes, look at all the Chinese people on the bus, all the workers on the street, and the different passengers getting zipped away in their taxi and wonder what their life was like. I will never know, but I did want to know what their life was like. This part of the human experience excites me and allows me to attempt to understand what it is like to be someone else.

Today I was talking with one of the machinist at PCA. He was the 8th of 15 children. One of his favorite memories was mealtime. For breakfast, lunch and dinner, all 17 people were required to sit down at one long table, and share a meal together. No one was allowed to eat until everyone was in attendance. Mother sat at one end and father at the other. The table was thick and made of real wood and could not even be moved by two people if they tried to. This memory sticks out most in his mind. He misses those times.

Comments

  1. noël19/2/08

    I love that you take time to know people. It's one thing that I've learned from you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mel28/2/08

    Hey random comment...less than six months until the new U2 album debuts.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Caleb4/3/08

    That is a cool memory. I can imagine it.

    ReplyDelete

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