crayons, and other thoughts.

"We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box."
~Anonymous

i just wrote an email to a friend about my night thus far and thought i'd share:

Date: Oct 2, 2006 7:40 PM

i just came from a tiny, submerged hole next to a taxi hub where a non-working atm at the entrance had white masking tape stretched across it, on which was written, 'off-duty.'
a portly pakistani man fed me a heaping plate of curried okra and chickpeas, rice, dahl, cauliflower, mango lassi, dates, and sweet rice. it kept coming and i was already so full but it felt discourteous to refuse anything offered.
his friends sat at the table next to me, chatting away in punjabi, which obviously i could not understand, before occasionally dismissing themselves to go to the back, behind the bathroom which had no light, to pray.
when i finally asked the portly pakistani what i owed for all his generosity, he told me $2, and said he would not take more.
i thanked him and insisted he let me at least tip him well, and he kindly acquiesced.
we could learn a great deal from the cultures and religions we blindly and ignorantly war against.