|
I wish I were lying...
i walk into the barbershop this afternoon, pull a number tab, and pick up a copy of TIME magazine to flip through. it wasn't long till a middle-aged philippino lady calls my number, i go sit in the chair.
she begins to cut my hair, eschewing (for the moment) the obligatory introductory small talk. near the end of the cut she pipes up with "do you has animals?" not being quite sure where this is headed i say "pets? no, i don't have any pets."
*silence
her: "i have cat"
me: "oh yeah?"
(we proceed to have a brief conservation about her cat, followed by more silence).
her: "my cat, he have fleas"
me: "is that so?"
*silence
her: "the fleas, they all over me."
*my eyebrows rise involuntarily
(at this point i'm unsure if something got lost in translation)
me: "hmm... you're saying your cat gave you fleas?"
her: "yes"
(apparently very little was lost in translation)
*i nod my head slowly, trying to fully comprehend what has been said.
(i kid you not, she starts to make a scratching gesture to furthur drive home the point.)
with all doubt removed, your humble narrator was sitting in a barber's chair with this poor woman lamenting her flea problem. awkward. at this point i wasn't sure if she was probing for advice, or just making casual conversation. i can assure you that there is no worse context to have this discussion with someone. they are very close to your person with their hands all over your head. you're never sure if that itch on the back of your neck is just newly shorn hair or a migratory flea.
__________________
If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
~ Winston Churchill
|