Luggage
I’m about half way to work, listening to music and tapping away at my blog, looking to most of the rest of the world like a mobile office, when someone taps my knee. I look up, expecting to see a coworker or perhaps a friend, and see a middle-aged Asian woman with luggage.
I take out one ear bud as she shakes her hand at me, “yes?” I ask. I noticed her luggage was halfway down the steps, just enough to keep the doors open.
She begins to shake her hand and point at me and then her luggage.
“I’m sorry” I say “is there something you want?”
Shake point point shake.
“I don’t understand” I say.
Shake point point shake.
“Do you want help?”
Shake point point shake.
“Riiiight.” I take out the other ear bud and put my PDA in the leather case as I look around. There are several able-bodied adults and teenagers watching, some of them also Asian, none of them a tangle of wires and PDA like myself.
And none of them lifting a finger or offering to translate. Can’t really blame them on the translation thing, the woman had yet to say a word in ANY language.
I put my PDA in my pocket and walk over to the luggage. It has no handles or places to grip save a strap going around the middle. I point at the strap and ask “can I lift it from here?“.
She points at me, then at the open door.
“Okay…” I say and try to lift the luggage by the strap. It gets half a foot off the step and falls down. It seems the strap was only connected on one side. The woman responds by yelling “Ai ya!” (I do so detest that expression) and smacking me just above the waist, hard. Hard enough for me to feel it and nearly double over in unexpected pain, thus proving she is neither weak nor mute.
“Fine, move it yourself!” I say and go back to my seat. She stares at me, incredulous. The bus driver comes back and moves it for her because he can’t move until the doors are closed.
“Ungrateful <expletive deleted>” says the driver, “didn’t even say thank you”
Getting back to my PDA I discover half a blog entry missing. Then I realized when the woman hit me she hit right where my PDA was in my pocket. In the days since it has taken to turning itself off randomly.
Last time I help someone like that.
<expletive deleted> indeed.
