Friday night, after a long day at work, I headed down to the supermarket opposite my condo to buy some beers. I wanted to cook something simple too. Like instant noodle and sardine.
Since the sardine collection was limited, I scrapped the idea of cooking and only bought a 6-pack.
As I joined the queue, a white man was in front with a basket full of grocery. He offered to let me go first, which I was grateful. I would have done the same.
But I was in no hurry. I thanked him and said just that. While waiting for the cashier to scan the items, I could have waited patiently, played with my phone perhaps. Instead, I asked him, “Are you from the neighbourhood?”
It was a safe guess. And it doesn’t convey other intents. One that is relatively safe and easy to answer.
He turned around and said yes. I followed up and asked, “How long have you been staying here?”
“Seven years.”
“Seven years?! But I haven’t seen you around!”
Then he showed me his dogs on his phone’s wallpaper. He said that I must have seen his two dogs. Two Shiba Inu. The older one is brown. The younger one is black.
Oh yes, I have seen them before. He said usually the helper walks the dogs.
No wonder.
We had a really lively chat. Mostly about his dogs. How his younger dog became the alpha of the two shortly after joining his family. I mentioned that I dog sit Bailey from time to time too. It is always good to look for commonalities. And talk about them. Time well spent while waiting for my turn to come.