Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Our Old Man Part II

Remember our old man? He's a funny guy. He will randomly call or just knock on the door at home with bags of "heart presents." He is usually about 5 beers in at this time and wants to drink more at our house. Ron and I don't really drink on the weekdays anymore, but we let him sit and sip on some sochu while we eat what he's brought for us. He prides himself on being "nonbe" (strong drinker) and that his heart is pure and he continuously reminds us that he doesn't want to be an annoyance. Slowly, but surely though he is becoming one. Not only are we not ready for two hours of his intoxicated repetition, but it always ends up with him lecturing me with how to be a good Japanese wife and playing his game of:

Old Man: OK OK. I'm being a bother. I'm going now.
Us: No, no. Stay. You haven't finished your drink. (fueled by guilt)
Old Man: OK. Ten more minutes.

(Ten minutes later)

Old Man: OK OK. I'm being a bother. I'm going now.
Us: No, no. Stay. (Saying it to say it)
Old Man: OK. Ten more minutes.

etc...

Usually he is tipsy and after a while he heads home, but last night was interesting. Yesterday we had a small birthday party with our old man, and our friends Casey. This is a party mainly because our old man insisted that he wanted to buy me a cake. We are all together while we eat cake and he drinks whatever we got. He's pretty toasty before drinking, but with his NONBE NONBE attitude, we think nothing of it. Pretty soon, we are tired and want to close the party and when our old man realizes this he starts getting really hissy and drinking more, refusing to leave. Finally we get him to stand up and he can barely stand. We try to walk him home and he refuses to move, ending up lying down on our little road. We don't know where he lives and don't want to hurt him by picking him up, so we do what we have to do...we call the police and 10 minutes later they try to take him home but our old man is getting angrier and angrier, swinging his arms and not saying where he lives. I go in the house since his yelling will cause attention to our surrounding neighbors, namely my supervisor and students. Eventually, Ron finds out where he lives and the police are able to take him home. That evening got out of hand really quick. I understand that he is lonely and that's why we don't mind him around, but a line of our own threshold was crossed, no matter what he tries to buy for us. I'm in the middle of feeling really guilty, wanting to comfort this man and give him company, but secretly hoping that he will be giving us a "heart present" rest for a little while.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sometimes good kids have to learn lessons the hard way but more importantly someone knows how big your hearts are and that is what life is all about.Proud of both of you.