This is part 6 of a short story I wrote about our time in Vietnam. Please feel free to find the other parts here.
The other day I was at a coffee shop
in my home town. I sat next to this old man with a pink newspaper.
in my home town. I sat next to this old man with a pink newspaper.
“Someone washed your paper with a
red sock. It’s pink!” I say.
red sock. It’s pink!” I say.
“Yeah, it’s easier on the eyes.
American papers blind you. They should make all papers like this!”
American papers blind you. They should make all papers like this!”
“You’re not from here originally are
you?”
you?”
“I’m from New York.”
“I thought so.” He had big jowls a gullet that stuck out almost to hischin. His mouth, surrounded by all this skin, looked like a
chipmunk’s. I told him I just got back from travelling. That I went
on a year long mission trip. He thought it was great.
“Travelling really opens your eyes.
Makes you appreciate this place at least.” He gestured to the
sycamores and the mountains, the parking lot and the IHOP.
Makes you appreciate this place at least.” He gestured to the
sycamores and the mountains, the parking lot and the IHOP.
He had been in the import-export
business. He told me he had been to over 150 countries. I told him
about Cambodia, how big Phnom Penh was getting.
business. He told me he had been to over 150 countries. I told him
about Cambodia, how big Phnom Penh was getting.
“Yeah a lot of money has gone into
that place,” he said, and told me about the time he was in Laos
with the Navy. He went up out of the city to a big dam the
government was building and took a bunch of weapons, automatic rifles
and things like that. As they went up there was a man beating a dog
with a whip, “tenderizing” it, he said, before slitting its
throat. The man’s family would probably eat the dog later.
that place,” he said, and told me about the time he was in Laos
with the Navy. He went up out of the city to a big dam the
government was building and took a bunch of weapons, automatic rifles
and things like that. As they went up there was a man beating a dog
with a whip, “tenderizing” it, he said, before slitting its
throat. The man’s family would probably eat the dog later.
When they got to the dam site, there
was a machine gun guarding it. He told me there were supposed to
be a couple of soldiers guarding the machine gun, but no one was
around. When he asked about it they told him the gun was rusted and
had stopped firing.
was a machine gun guarding it. He told me there were supposed to
be a couple of soldiers guarding the machine gun, but no one was
around. When he asked about it they told him the gun was rusted and
had stopped firing.
The government was going to build the
dam to put a lake in the middle of the country and build some nice
hotels around it. It would be a regular tourist attraction. The
only problem was the tribal people who lived on the land the lake
would flood.
dam to put a lake in the middle of the country and build some nice
hotels around it. It would be a regular tourist attraction. The
only problem was the tribal people who lived on the land the lake
would flood.
“What are you going to do about the
people living in there?” he asked.
people living in there?” he asked.
“Well to be honest,” said the
commander of the Laotian military, “We’re going to go in there and
kill them all.”
commander of the Laotian military, “We’re going to go in there and
kill them all.”
“I didn’t want anything to do with
that,” the old man said to me, “so I headed out. But the
commander asked me, ‘When you’re going back, look in on the people.
You tell us what to do after you see them.’ We headed back but we
stopped in on a few villages of these tribes. They were vicious
looking. I had never seen a group of people more vicious looking. I
called the commander. ‘They look pretty vicious,’ I said. ‘You do
what you want.'”
that,” the old man said to me, “so I headed out. But the
commander asked me, ‘When you’re going back, look in on the people.
You tell us what to do after you see them.’ We headed back but we
stopped in on a few villages of these tribes. They were vicious
looking. I had never seen a group of people more vicious looking. I
called the commander. ‘They look pretty vicious,’ I said. ‘You do
what you want.'”
We talked a little longer. He told me
he went to Westmont College for two years, my alma mater, a little
Christian school in California. He was one of three adult students
at the time and to get in as an adult he had to sign a form saying he
wouldn’t drink, smoke, or date.
he went to Westmont College for two years, my alma mater, a little
Christian school in California. He was one of three adult students
at the time and to get in as an adult he had to sign a form saying he
wouldn’t drink, smoke, or date.
“That’s all I was doing, so I sort
of lied there,” he said. He told me his classes helped him
appreciate the countries he was working in, the history, the culture.
of lied there,” he said. He told me his classes helped him
appreciate the countries he was working in, the history, the culture.
After he left I wondered if he was
changed from the man who told the commander to do what he wanted, the
one who didn’t care if the vicious looking ones died.
changed from the man who told the commander to do what he wanted, the
one who didn’t care if the vicious looking ones died.
