Good morning sunshine

The sun is very, very bright outside the bus. My left eye won’t open because a dry contact is screaming for attention and my right eye is squinting blindly in the morning light. I’m searching through my pockets for my bus ticket…barely aware of things around me. I finally find it, hand it over to the driver, and weakly bow as the bus doors close and the bus drives away. I turn around in the parking lot and see about two dozen junior high school baseball players staring at me. My shirt is rumbled, my hair a bit askew, I feel all out of sorts. But, I try to maintain dignity and walk away towards home. Oh geeze, why did I stay out all night?

My mind begins to search through the past 24 hours…remembering the events that led to my current state.

It all began Saturday afternoon when I thought it was a good idea to hitch hike to Fukuoka. Sure I could have taken a bus or train…but then I wouldn’t have met the Tanaka family from Kitakyushu who had been attending their eldest son’s wedding that morning. I rode in their fancy car and chatted with Mrs. Tanaka about her enthusiasm for watching sports, but not playing them.

They dropped me off at the expressway entrance to the city where I hailed another ride into downtown. This time I got an English-speaking business man who owes several diners and shops in town. He asked me to hand out some flyers on the street in return for the ride…a trade I happily agreed to. I only had to pass out 6…but about 40 people walked by before I was able to give them away (I don’t think I was aggressive enough).

Then came a series of random encounters with friends and strangers, old and new, that eventually led to me staying out all night in the smoke and lights of Tenjin. I met loads of new folks and ended up joining up with them for the night. Since my hitch hiking trip last month I’ve found that I have no trouble meeting new people and becoming instant friends. By 5am we were eating McDonald’s and going through the usual lament of, “why did we stay out all night?”

The sun came up and the responsible people who had gone to bed the night before were starting to come out onto the streets. This is always a weird time when the tired/drunk/crazy people who partied all night meet the clean/genki/responsible people who are on their way to work/wherever. It really puts the “out all night” thing into perspective.

The bus arrived; I stumbled aboard and shut the curtain. Ah yes, now is the time for sleep.