Hitching Rides with Yama

I'm reading a book called Hitching Rides With Buddha. It's about a guy who hitchhiked all the way across Japan, from south to north, following the spread of the cherry blossoms.

The other day, I had my own little hitchhiking-like encounter that reminded me of the author's adventure-filled journey. But I wasn't the hitcher. Rather, I was the one offering a ride.

The encounter probably never would have taken place had I not taken a detour to the local "Y" shop* (a convenience store like a 7-11) on my way to school. The slight delay caused me to arrive back at the main intersection in town at the same time as another walker, rather than a couple minutes ahead of him. (I noticed him quite a ways behind me when I turned off the main road through town).

My first instinct was to speed up to avoid this stranger, since he appeared a bit odd to me. But I quickly changed my mind. Remember the croquet-golf lady? I certainly did, and I figured this was another chance to practice some Japanese. So I ended up traveling (walking) with the stranger half-way to school.

This guy was quite a character. (He looked familiar to me, but I just couldn't place him.) Despite the fact that it was around 8:00 in the morning, he was already pretty hammered. And even though I figured he must have been on his way to work, he said he was actually on his way home. And when I asked him what kind of work he did, he said something about working in the rice fields. (I have no reason to doubt him, but I really don't think anyone plants rice at night.) And he knew where I worked and asked me a couple of questions about the school. And he had no trouble walking up the steep hill, either. (He even mentioned that he has strong legs.)

Even though I didn't understand everything he said, and I couldn't say everything to him that I wanted to, I was happy to be able to carry on some sort of meaningful conversation with him. I'm glad I decided to take him along for the ride.

*Another local convenience store is called the "I" shop, prompting me to often sing the following little ditty that I made up:

"Why shop at the I-shop, when you can shop at the Y-shop? Why shop at the Y-shop, when you can shop at the I-shop?" Cool, eh?