First of all, the bus was running late and my blood was starting to boil. I needed to make it back to my apartment and then to the bank by 5pm. It was 4:28 according to my wrist.
My ipod is my best friend when waiting at bus stops. I can tune out the littered silence of cars driving by and particularly today, all of the freshman (and their families) trying to find a parking spot to move on to the next and very long-awaited phase of life...college.
So it's hot and I'm tired. Yay. And then, three international students, who must be moving out of temporary housing, cross the street to wait at the same bus stop. They are all rolling suitcases behind them and trying to keep order in this fairly out of context situation. The bus stop...it's on a hill. I go back to my ipod to change a song and pull out my phone to call my dad and complain about my long day. When reaching for my phone, I accidently yank my headphones out of my ears. Then I hear it.
Laughter.
Gut flexing, knee slapping laughter. I look to my right and see this helpless Asian girl sprinting down the hill after her runaway suitcase. She must have set it down and turned away. In a split second, that suitcase was gone with the wind. I start to laugh out loud along with the others waiting at the stop. Everyone is harmoniously laughing, including the young woman chasing after her target. I forgot I was waiting for a late bus and had errands to run.
She caught the suitcase and made it back up the hill right as the bus pulled up to the curb. We all stepped on and took our seats as usual. The three girls, still giggling, spoke in the language of their respective home country. It hit me.
I had let myself get so frustrated over the past few days with international check-ins. I cannot communicate well with people who cannot communicate well! But you know what is so cool? Emotion. Emotion braids the human race. I could not speak the language of those international students, but we both understand and share the concept of emotion.
No matter what language a person speaks, I can feel the same emotion as him or her. Watching someone chase a suitcase down a sidewalk is hilarious. It is amusing to me, to the mother behind me, to the athlete on the bench, and to the international students experiencing and witnessing the situation transpire. It is so cool.
That girl chasing the suitcase...we probably would not be very successful speaking to each other. She may not understand very much of my language, and I may not understand very much of hers. But we both experience pain, we both experience sadness, we both experience laughter, and we both can acknowledge each other experiencing those feelings.
I understand you not because I can or cannot speak your language, but because I can empathize with your feelings. I can feel what you feel, and when you're experiencing something, I don't need to hear you speak, I just need to feel with you- that is what connect you and I.
This is such a simple concept and I'm probably stupid for never thinking much about this like most people may, but let me tell you, that was one hell of a cool feeling.
We may not come from the same place, we may not share the same vernacular, but friends known and unknown, will you laugh with me?
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