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My Conversation WIth John



As I was riding the Pinellas trail bike path near Waterboard, I noticed this gentleman sitting on the bench reading, two days in a row,  Somewhat intrigued, I stopped on the pretense of needing to rest.  This is, more or less, the conversation we had.

Me:  Mind if I have a seat and rest?

John:  (moving his cellphone closer to him) No.

Me:  What are you reading?

John:  (without saying anything showed me the book.  It was The Air That I Breathe, an autobiographical book about a neurosurgeon dying of cancer.

Me:  Ah.  I read it.  It's pretty heavy.

Me.  (Thinking I'd recommend A Gentleman In Moscow) Do you read fiction?

John:  No, not often.  (At this point I thought he had some kind of speech disorder, but discovered he had an English accent.)  I've been reading Eastern Theology lately.  Mysticism, Bhagavad-Gita, Eastern Spiritualism.  The Hierarchy of Heaven.  It is all so simple and easy, you know?  Not at all like Western theology.

Me:  No, Christianity has a lot of inconsistencies.  

John:  Do that!  Don't do that!  That's how you train a dog!

Me:  (Laughing)  I've seen you sitting here reading.  It's a nice place to read.  Nice and quiet.

John:  I live over there at Pinecrest.  It's a nice place and the staff are friendly.  But the people!  They are like the Walking Dead.  They stopped learning when they were 60.  I take a book with me to the dining room.

Me:  It serves as a wall?

John:  Yes.  

Me:  Very effective.

John:  It's like they stopped wanting to know things, they got old and stopped being curious.  I'm 96.
Me:  How long have you been here in the U.S.?

John:  26 years.  I lived for a while in Tennessee.  The people there were more curious than here. 

Me:  Oh, that wouldn't be my impression. (I said it low so he couldn't hear me.)  

Me:  You look good.  Was it the genes or did you exercise?

John:  I played a lot of tennis and football (soccer).   I played it in my eighties.  I tried to keep fit.  

Me:  Well, keep reading John and hope to see you again.

John: Humph. ( The humph was kind of dismissive like I'd wasted enough of his time.  No further looks, just back to the book.  I wonder if he thought I was more Floridian or Tennessean?  I'm going to try to find him again when I go back.  Then again he may try to find a different, more quiet bench.)




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