The coffee shop guy from my fave neighborhood café left me free-caffeine-less and Wednesday afternoon bored when he quit in a huff over bad management. He’s a gangly early 20s kid, ridiculously tall for a Chinese boy, with an abundance of energizing batteries stuck behind his leg and hops all over the place talking a mile a minute about the abuse a small boy like himself has to suffer in the hands of the big, powerful, elitist society we live in. He had dreams of going to Italy, and spent a most of his teens in South Africa, doing I have no idea what, but in the guise of going to school. He cracks me up with all his big talk and suffering. Bullied by bosses, annoyed by random strangers in day to day life he’s the comedic victim of the patriarchy, caste system or his own laziness rolled into one.
For whatever reason he called me about three weeks ago. I figure he’s broken up with girlfriend (or new girlfriend) once again, because that’s when the boys remember I am around and give me a call (I know you all do it, so don’t pretend). He’s working as a private detective. I said, “What so you watch people have sex in awful little apartments in Shenzen over the border?”
“No, just Once we followed someone’s mother.
Mother?
Yeah. He was afraid someone is taking advantage of her.
How old is she?
40ish I guess, maybe more…
Man.. god, he should let her have some happiness.
We crack up.
Yan Sham-Shackleton Online 