It was rush hour in downtown Winnipeg…
I squeezed onto an over-crowded bus, and the only seat left was in the very back row. So I jammed myself down in between the four other people there. They were all big guys with massive shoulders, so it was pretty snug.
The guy beside me gets a bright idea. So he reaches up and puts his arm around me.
Weird.
But then I kind of got used to it. And it DID free up some shoulder room. So I thought, “hey, what’s the harm?” This is not that bad, so I decided to make a joke…
I looked over and smirked, “hey, if you’re going to put your arm around me, you’re going to have to take me on a date!”
He took his arm off me. He didn’t speak English.
In a thick accent he said, “Ohh, so-ray sirh.” Which I assume meant, “Oh, sorry sir.”
So we’re sitting there in complete silence, looking directly forward, both kind of confused – like we’ve had our first fight or something…(weird).
But now I feel kind of bad that I hurt this guy’s feelings with my bad joke. And my shoulders were starting to get a little sore – so I got an idea.
I reached up and put my arm around him – brilliant! Solid game play Chapman. More shoulder room, and you made the foreign guy feel better!
He seemed to appreciate it, and gave a slight nod of approval.
It was that day I learned Easy Come, Easy Go…
Next Week’s Hint: The more things change, the more they stay the same.
