John PHI⑊PIN

I spotted this car parked near a Farmers Market - I walked on, wondering about the owner and what their story was.

Returning a few hours later, I saw a couple of cars stopped at a junction. They weren’t moving and as I got closer saw an elderly man using his feet to propel him and his wheelchair backwards across this small, pot hole riven junction … up a small incline.

I walked over and asked him if he needed any help.

“No thanks. I’m fine.

Are you sure?

“No really. I’m ok … Thankyou.

Pushing harder with his feet for the final assault on the slope.

I waved to him ... ok then ... and kept going. He shouted out.

“Thankyou. Thankyou very much. I’m ok ... really."

I turned around to wav to see him by his car, wrestling with the door to get in, carefully watched by his lady friend, sitting patiently to one side of the road in her wheelchair.

I still don’t know the story of the car, nor it’s owner - but clearly, despite what the car might say to a passer by ... he was a proud, well mannered, graceful man. I really wish I knew his story.

“They come for three months - they stay for four years - and I welcome that. That’s how we learn. They see us up close and personal and we see them. A lot of countries that they come from have very different governments, with different rules. We get to learn about each without the filter of what they are told. I wouldn’t say that when they leave we fully understand each other’s cultures, but we are surely better off than we would have been if we hadn't.”

“We bring people in from all over the world, staff and customers. So, why would we treat anyone differently? Them, Us, Staff, Customers, Family … each one of us is part of another’s world. And I mean all of us.”

“I don’t know much about those large companies you hear about in the news. You could fit our entire community into one of their office blocks. They have their ways. We have ours. So we’re different. Except we’re not. None of us are. They just haven’t worked that out yet.”

“Turns out, we have more in common with ‘foreigners’ - like you” (he smiles and points his finger at me) “than some of the people from our own country. Turns out that the ones that are just here to 'party' are the odd ones out. That’s why we came up with the 'Silly Bugger' rule.”

“It goes like this. When you come here, you can work and you can party. But that’s on your time. If you play 'silly bugger', there is no second chance. You are out on the next boat. That’s how we build and strengthen our community. Everybody is welcome until they make themselves unwelcome.”

“Maybe that’s something else those big companies could learn from us. If they did, we wouldn’t charge. That’s another thing - we don’t charge to learn - learning makes us all better.”

“There is no harm in our criticizing foreigners, if only we would also criticize ourselves. In other words, the world might need even less of its new charity, if it had a little more of the old humility.”

G.K. Chesterton

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'Real Stories | Real People' is a new occasional series that will start to appear on this blog in the not too distant future. But that's not the point of the newsletter. The point was first to share the story of Richard Montañez.

The second was to ask you to think about success. What is it. And more importantly - is it uner your control. It isn't as clear cut as you might think.

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"In Italy I was a photographer. In Rome."

“A pretty place to photograph.”

"Well, not so much, my job was a police photographer. When someone died, I took the photographs. I was very busy. Ten years .. every day … click click click … more death. Depressing. Soul ‘killing’’. I couldn’t make a life out of death."

So different city, different country, different job?

"Yes. But same girl!"

"She said to me one day that she is coming here. To England. It seemed a good idea. Time for change."

You didn’t want to do something in photography? Maybe scenery, weddings, commercial … put your skills to a different use?

"No."

"My girl friend she is always changing. Me too. I wanted change. But Only one change. Change. Stop."

So you have been here for ten years.

"Yes. And will be for another ten. My girlfriend she has had 15 jobs in the same time. Sometimes working 50 miles away. Always changing. Always chasing. But never arriving."

"Me? I’ve arrived."

Any journey is a series of events and one of those events is the destination. [efn_note] I was reminded of this story when I was sharing a bottle of wine with a friend recently. The wine was 'own label' - and on that label was a line ... that he assured me was his, I haven't found it anywhere else so let me attribute accordingly. [/efn_note]

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How about you? I asked.

"Me? More brothers and sisters than most and none of them talk to me and the missus."

That must be hard.

Not really. It runs in the family. My parents hardly ever talked.

"You can't choose your family, but you sure can choose your friends".

My Dad [efn_note]A long time ago[/efn_note]

Thinking Allowed

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