Alvin

Tonight I stopped at the gas station to pick up some pop. I waited in line while the gentleman behind the cash machine performed transactions with 3 people in front of me, I noticed that they just plopped their goods on the counter, waited for him to calculate the total, passed over their money, got their change, and walked away.

I decided to chat the guy up. His name was Alvin. He was so pleasant to me, even after being merely ignored by everyone else that he had served before me.

I asked if he'd grown up here - he looked familiar, actually - "No" he said "I'm from the Philippines"

"How long have you been in Canada, Alvin?", I asked.

"2 and a half years now. I applied to move to Australia, Canada and the U.S. Canada was the first country to accept me."

He went on to tell me how safe he felt here, and that he appreciated that if he did get in trouble, he could call 9-1-1 and someone would help him. He said he was glad he didn't live in the middle east - It wasn't safe there.

I learned that his wife and children were still in the Philippines.

It occurred to me that he wouldn't be tucking his children in tonight, or kissing his wife before rolling over and going to sleep. He must be lonely. His family must miss him terribly. They have each other, at least. He has no one that he can hug tenderly at night.

He moved to Canada to create a better life for his family. It's ironic that foreigners have to leave their families in order to improve their lives.

I thanked him for his time and went to my car. I got in and put my seatbelt on. I had to take several deep breaths to prevent me from crying. I felt so damn sad in that moment. Then I got mad.

I'm mad that so many of the people I know bitch about the little things in their lives. They go home and complain to their spouse or their parents. They go and take their bad mood out on their innocent children. At least they can hug their children and say "I'm sorry". At least they can hug their spouse and say "I love you."

Alvin can't do that right now. One day, if he's lucky. But not now. And still he smiles and doesn't complain.

It also brings me back to the current situation in Japan. With that frightening and heartbreaking disaster occurring there, we have no basis for complaining that our PVR didn't tape our favorite show, or that the pizza delivery guy forgot to give us napkins. We waste food, we waste time, we waste away. It's so sad that so many of us waste our lives being ungrateful and unmotivated.

I'm going to go talk to Alvin more often. I think he has a lot of valuable things to share with and teach me.