Usually I am doop-de-dooping through my day, but this afternoon I was on a schedule. Wouldn't you know that I would bump into someone I hadn't seen in years and this person had a story to unload. His soon to be ex-wife had JUST given birth to a baby. I guess he found out nine months ago she was cheating with someone from work. The baby's father has 5 other children with 3 other women. There were plenty more details, but I was trying to walk away without appearing rude or uninterested (which actually I am). As I am sprinting off in a panic not to be late, he shouts that we should go to lunch. A big N-O on that one, it sounds like an episode from bad tv.
I have not been reading much, but finished "Outcasts United" by Warren St. John. I wish I had read it a couple of years ago, when Luma came and spoke at McD. I was impressed with the book. It tells the story of a Jordanian woman, Luma, who starts a soccer team for refugee boys in the Atlanta area. The staggering part was hearing the stories of the boys. I had forgotten about the atrocities in the Congo, the Lost Boys of Sudan and the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo. I had never heard of the Nuba valley and other regions where the boys came from. I recently read "Little Bee" which also deals with refugees, it is a subject I feel sadly we don't understand.
In college when I flew back from Hong Kong, the airline loaded the plane with refugees from somewhere in Asia. It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. These people had nothing, everything about them was drab and defeated, I truly was struck by the lack of color. They were each clutching a clear plastic bag that had an orange or a roll or a pair of socks - some small personal thing. They loaded them on first and put up another curtain so there would be no interaction. I often have wondered where they were all going and if they have done well.
I am going to try and go to bed, but it sounds like the people behind me are having a monster truck rally. I may have to get out the binoculars and spy on their activities, although it might require night vision binoculars. My neighbor spying is not that high-tech. I can't decide if I am hearing go-carts or chainsaws.
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