Incident written down

I stay very close to my workplace. It is a nice 6-7 minute walk. The entire complex is called ‘Provincial Professional Park’. It is a developing site and construction work is always on. Most of the workers working on these sites are Mexicans.

One of whom I happen to know. He is not too tall, a bit fat, round face and has a mustache. He had come often to our office for maintenance work. Today, I saw him talking to a guy. As I came closer he had finished talking and I grabbed his attention to say ‘Hola’ – ‘good morning’ in Mexican, I mean Spanish. It was a month before coming to U.S.A. that a counselor enlightened me that people in Mexico speak Spanish and not Mexican as I thought. I greeted him.

He was about 20 feet across me. He did not greet me back. Instead he was now walking towards me. He wore denims, a striped t-shirt and a maroon cap. He now was at a handshake distance from me. Now I thought, he would greet me. But he did not; instead he posed me with a question. He asked ‘You stay so nearby, why are you late?’ I was stunned; I did not expect such a reply to a ‘good morning’. I checked my watch & it was 10 minutes past 8. I was late. I just told him that it always happens with me and greeted him good-bye.

The next day I was early, a good 10 minutes before 8. But I could not see him there. I think I learned my lesson of punctuality from this guy. Thanks dude.