Friday 11 February 2022

Characters.

My dear Friends, y'know what I miss not being in my lovely native land?

Characters!

I am walking to the market, and a scraggly man tripsing past me, pause, look 'pon me and shout out, "Hello Fren. How you do? You doin' okay?"

Now, to be honest, I ain't know this man from Adam or Eve. I suspect he would spot me going regularly to the market. He would probably be sitting over the road, in front the old building where them druggies-chaps hang out.

How to answer he? 

Proper ladies would walk past he with they nose turn away, like they didn't hear or see he. Or they would give a very polite nod.

I give he a pretend-shy, genuine-friendly smile and say, "Yeah man."

And I keep walking. That is enough. The man go 'long he way. 

Every time since then, whenever I walking to the market, he would greet me, "Hi friend."

And I smile and say, "Hi," and keep walking.

Characters all over the city streets of my homeland. You got to develop the instinct to know which ones to reply to, and how to respond. Not snobbish. And most certainly not palsy-walsy.

The ones I reply to easily, and gyaff...chat...with, is the pen-man who convince me to buy a pen from he every time I pass he. The pine-man who pine does be sour like lime sometimes, and I take it home and cook faux-Chinese food with it. Mango-lady. 

But you see them bus conductors who shout for passengers to take they bus? Walk past like you don't see or hear them. Because, if you ain't careful, they gon haul you into they bus, and the next thing you know, you heading off for the inner parts of countryside even though you only been going to the lawyer office across the road.

And them chaps with cutlass under they arms...cross the road if you see one coming. No, I don't miss them and bus conductors.

I must say though, they add to the sounds and sights and drama of small sea-side town life.

What is your city like, Friends? (I mean, out of covid-times). What sounds and sights and people you enjoy?

I should go for a walk in this tranquil suburb. I really should. But I might read a book instead, or write email.

Have a loverly weekend. Plenty, plenty love, neena. xxx

7 comments:

  1. I love my chats with people walking the street as I play/work in the garden. And respond when people chat to me on buses.
    I buy a sausage roll for some of the homeless men around town I see (particularly those with dogs who can share it). And the smiles brighten both of our days.

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    1. Child, you are simply one of the most beautiful people to walk this earth. I would love to share what you say here, so that others would know that kindness, and making someone's day, doesn't take much.

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  2. There are 2 phrases I've heard that are mutually exclusive, and yet both seem true at the same time:
    "Everyone is weird, until you get to know them"
    "Everyone seems normal, until you get to know them"
    The "Characters" in the street fall into the first category :)

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    1. Kim, this made me laugh!!! This is how it turned over in my mind: Everyone is weird, then we get to know them and they're normal, and then we get to know them and they're weird.

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    2. I have a fridge magnet that says the only normal people are those you don't know very well.

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  3. Great writing style! You should be snapped up by an agent or publisher in no time (if not already) Looking forward to reading more.

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    1. Hi Chris, welcome, and thank you, you so kind. :-)

      Blogging is my quiet place, I "visit" homes, see people's gardens, travel...

      I wish people would start blogging again.

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