When I came closer I met his
eyes. His face and eyes cried out for help. I stopped
my bicycle and approached him.
"Where are you going, Uncle?" I asked.
"I’m going home to Sikhay."
"Would you care for a ride? I’ll take
you home."
"Oh, yes. Please."
So I let another complete stranger
ride with me. The man lived beyond my home, but I decided to take him all the way, then I made a U-turn back to my house. I felt good as I
mumbled to myself:
"Bicycle riding--it’s cool when the wind
blows....
On another occasion, I was left in
charge of a motorcycle. A friend had asked me to look after his green Honda while he went on an assignment in a rural area. Since he was
single, he lived in the workers’ dormitory and allowed me to
use the bike while he was gone. So the Honda became my mode of
transportation to work every day, and I meant to treat it with the utmost care so it would not be stolen or break down. During those two weeks that I was
in charge of that bike, many funny incidents occurred because of my
carelessness, or rather because I wanted to
show off.
I saw a woman of about thirty,
maybe four or five years older than I, waiting for a taxi in the hot sun. She was waving her hand to stop a car. I thought at
first she was waving at me until I noticed a cab slowing down. It
did not stop, however, because it was already full of passengers. So I pulled up close to her and said, "The cab was already full, that’s
why it didn’t stop. Would you like
a ride with me? I’ll take you home."
"What’s the idea? Why should I go with
you?" she shot back, displeased.
"You don’t have to pay. I’ll just
give you a free ride," I assured her sincerely.
"Free or
not, I won’t ride with you even if you pay me!"
"I saw you in the hot sun and,
really, I mean well!"
"Yeah, right. You mean well, but
don’t expect something else. Thanks, but no thanks!" |
