Running into Old friends
Back in the late 80's I signed up for a youth training program to learn word processing and office skills so I would become employable and get a job after the 6 month training program. I remember this well. I had to take one bus early in the morning and that one bus would always be packed with people going to work and school and usually I would have to stand at a certain point on the bus. I would always give my seat to an older person when the bus became packed. I figured I could stand up longer then they could and I really didn't mind giving up my seat. It seemed forever to get to my destination which was Downtown Oakland. I had to go to a place called the Oakland Chinese Community Council. It was near Chinatown, a couple of blocks away. I had to be there at 8am and stay all day until 3pm and we would break for lunch at noon. It was almost like going to work for the whole day.
The room that we would use was set up like a classroom, desks, chairs and a whiteboard next to a chalkboard. The teacher didn't have a desk just a table in front of her that ran about half the length of the small room we were in. Her name was Miss Chin and she was very smart and very nice. She taught us English skills and in the afternoon we would have another person teaching us the word processing part after lunch. Miss Chin would give us tons and tons of writing assignments and call on us individually to read our work for the whole class which consisted of about ten people. I really didn't mind reading in front of the class it was not as terrifying as when I had to do it in the 8th grade. I hated those monthly book reports that Sister Patricia used to give us and we had to stand in front of the whole class and all eyes would be on you. I disliked that with a passion. But, I think that experience helped me later with this one and why I didn't mind so much.
My best friend at the school was this Indian woman who was the same age as me and she was so nice and she thought that I looked enough like her to be her cousin. It was funny. We got along great. She was the total opposite of me. She was tall, thin, long, long hair, olive complexion, very beautiful. I wasn't any of those things. Certainly not tall and thin. I was shorter and curvy. She introduced me to Indian food and I don't think I have ever eaten anymore Indian food since that time in my life. I don't know why though. But, I just haven't.
So, we would study together at school and help each other out on tests, ok, cheat a little, sometimes, but hey, who didn't? We would have lunch together everyday unless one of us was sick and didn't come that day. And we would share stories about our families and cultures.
After the 6 months was over we both got our certificates certifying that we were proficient in Word Processing and Office Skills and away we went with certificates in hand to enter the work force or at least that was the plan. I never did see her again after that class and over the years wondered what happened to her if she ever got a job in word processing. Or if she was like me, never got a job in word processing but did plenty of office work type jobs for several years. I wonder if she married and had kids and if she stayed in the bay area, or California specifically.
Then one day all my questions were answered in one trip to the grocery store on a chilly day. I was over in the milk aisle trying to find the cheapest gallon of milk and I heard someone calling my name across the aisle in the egg aisle. The milk and eggs are like five feet from each other in that store. I looked up and didn't recognize the person. I was thinking who is this woman and where do I know her from? Is she a parent from my son's school or someone I went to school with? Or I thought maybe she was one of my nephews old teachers from his old school. My mind was a complete blank. Which didn't surprise me. Some people I can remember and some I can't. Most I can't. So, after a minute of awkward silence. She said to me that I must not remember her. She was right of course I didn't. She asked me did I remember the word processing class back in 1983. I said vaguely. She said her name and then it all came back to me and yes, I did remember her. I gave her a hug and she told me that she had 4 grown children, two boys and two girls and was married. Ironically, she never ended up working in a word processing job either. Neither of us got any work from our certificates that we got back then. We had a nice conversation right there in the milk and egg aisle.
We exchanged numbers and promised to keep in touch. I am not sure how long we will keep in touch actually with all the things that life throws at you sometimes you just forget to call old and new friends as often as you should and get all caught up in the rat race we know as life. But, I will try my best to keep in touch with her and I know she will with me. And she was still tall, thin and beautiful the same way I remembered her from 1983. Sometimes old friends never change they just get older.
The room that we would use was set up like a classroom, desks, chairs and a whiteboard next to a chalkboard. The teacher didn't have a desk just a table in front of her that ran about half the length of the small room we were in. Her name was Miss Chin and she was very smart and very nice. She taught us English skills and in the afternoon we would have another person teaching us the word processing part after lunch. Miss Chin would give us tons and tons of writing assignments and call on us individually to read our work for the whole class which consisted of about ten people. I really didn't mind reading in front of the class it was not as terrifying as when I had to do it in the 8th grade. I hated those monthly book reports that Sister Patricia used to give us and we had to stand in front of the whole class and all eyes would be on you. I disliked that with a passion. But, I think that experience helped me later with this one and why I didn't mind so much.
My best friend at the school was this Indian woman who was the same age as me and she was so nice and she thought that I looked enough like her to be her cousin. It was funny. We got along great. She was the total opposite of me. She was tall, thin, long, long hair, olive complexion, very beautiful. I wasn't any of those things. Certainly not tall and thin. I was shorter and curvy. She introduced me to Indian food and I don't think I have ever eaten anymore Indian food since that time in my life. I don't know why though. But, I just haven't.
So, we would study together at school and help each other out on tests, ok, cheat a little, sometimes, but hey, who didn't? We would have lunch together everyday unless one of us was sick and didn't come that day. And we would share stories about our families and cultures.
After the 6 months was over we both got our certificates certifying that we were proficient in Word Processing and Office Skills and away we went with certificates in hand to enter the work force or at least that was the plan. I never did see her again after that class and over the years wondered what happened to her if she ever got a job in word processing. Or if she was like me, never got a job in word processing but did plenty of office work type jobs for several years. I wonder if she married and had kids and if she stayed in the bay area, or California specifically.
Then one day all my questions were answered in one trip to the grocery store on a chilly day. I was over in the milk aisle trying to find the cheapest gallon of milk and I heard someone calling my name across the aisle in the egg aisle. The milk and eggs are like five feet from each other in that store. I looked up and didn't recognize the person. I was thinking who is this woman and where do I know her from? Is she a parent from my son's school or someone I went to school with? Or I thought maybe she was one of my nephews old teachers from his old school. My mind was a complete blank. Which didn't surprise me. Some people I can remember and some I can't. Most I can't. So, after a minute of awkward silence. She said to me that I must not remember her. She was right of course I didn't. She asked me did I remember the word processing class back in 1983. I said vaguely. She said her name and then it all came back to me and yes, I did remember her. I gave her a hug and she told me that she had 4 grown children, two boys and two girls and was married. Ironically, she never ended up working in a word processing job either. Neither of us got any work from our certificates that we got back then. We had a nice conversation right there in the milk and egg aisle.
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