Lingua Franca

A man comes up to me and wants to talk about his neighbor’s house, how it needs to be repainted, how the grass needs to be restored, how ugly the decorations are, and how stupid that neighbor must be for not seeing this, or for being inconsiderate for seeing this and not doing anything about it. I ask if the man had talked to his neighbor, and the man says, No, because the neighbor is probably too poor to buy new paint or better grass or new decorations, and there’s no use talking to a poor man if there’s nothing that can be done about it.

The man asks me what I thought about his neighbor, and the man asks me what words we could use to talk poorly about his neighbor. I tell the man that if I were different today, and if I were inviting people over to entertain and wanted to impress them with my house and my lawn, I would want my neighbor’s house and lawn to look impressive also. But since I am not, I tell the man that I have no words for him.

A woman comes up to me and wants to talk about her neighbor’s group of friends, how they have such complicated lives, with all their drama and backstabbing and deceits and conceits. The woman tells me about what she has seen and heard in detail, and has heard in detail from other people. The woman asks me what thoughts I may have about her neighbor’s group of friends, about their life choices and strengths of character.

I say to the woman that if I were different today, and if my own life was constantly being judged and harassed, and if I felt trapped and angry and resentful to those around me, that I may have plenty of thoughts for her about her neighbor’s group of friends. But since I have, for the most part, an uneventful life, and am having an uneventful day, and my only thoughts are for the daily chores that I must tend to, I tell the woman that I have no words for her.

A child comes up to me and wants to talk about a ladybug that she found crawling on her windowsill. She wants to find an open field where she can release the ladybug, where there aren’t any people or large animals, and where the ladybug can hop-fly from one grass stem to another, taking its time until it finds what it’s looking for.

I tell the child that if I were different today, if I had so many chores that I had no time for anything else, or if I had the lives of other people on my mind, or if I had to rush home to make my house impressive for others, that I would not have time to help her. But since I have none of those things, at least for today, I said yes.