End of year and thoughts for the future.

While waiting for a ferry boat in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts yesterday, I met a woman. It always happens. I am able to meet people in every place I stop. Striking up a conversation with a total stranger is like venturing into the unknown. A large majority of folks sit in silence and miss so many great stories from people who are also sitting in silence just a few feet away from them. I dance to the beat of a different drum.

So, this woman started telling a story about some guy she saw in Key West who trains cats to jump through a flaming hoop for the entertainment of tourists on the streets of the southernmost tip of Florida. "It's just not right." she said. "Cats' bodies are not made to jump through flaming loops. They only do it for a treat at the other end. A tiny bit of food is what these starving cats are after." She went on to explain how the owners and self-proclaimed trainers of the domestic house cat will intentionally refrain from feeding their pet so it'll jump through a wall of flames if it had to for nourishment.

"Are you from Key West?" I inquired.

"I'm not from anywhere. I am from everywhere." Several bags of groceries sat at her feet. Her voice started to turn to shades of anger as she continued to tell me and the woman sitting next to her how the people of this island and most of New England were rude, selfish and, as she put it, "Really know how to make a person feel unwelcome." "I have been all over this country and everybody is self centered, not helpful at all and just mean!"

Of course, I began telling her little bits about my story, the Solo Freedom Ride, but she wanted nothing to do with the word Freedom. "There is no such thing as Freedom. My mother died and she didn't have Freedom. They took her money away from her and treated her horribly. I guess that's just the way Southerners are. A bunch of mean bastards!"

The conversation went on for maybe 10 more minutes, which seemed to me like an hour in a courtroom with my legs in shackles and my hands cuffed behind my back. Don't get me wrong; I have never been in jail. But, I seriously wanted to reach inside of her head and comfort this lost soul who is, at this moment, feeling what I felt a few short years ago because of my own mother's passing. It appeared it wasn't going to happen. She veered off to bash my travels and hopeful book deal as a way for me to be "Just like the rest of them, Capitalists!" "Is this all you think about? You writers are all alike. Go ahead, write a book about other people's troubles so you can get rich. Damn you all!"

Let's just say, I know when to shut up...

When someone is pushing you or your kind words away, you can't always reel them back in.

She nervously looked at her watch and peered out the windows to see if her bus had arrived and it did. She gathered her bags and never said goodbye with any number of words. It was only the fourteen footsteps of her snow boots and the door swinging widely open that gave me the indication that she was gone.

I didn't sleep well last night. My mind was racing through the conversation over and over and I dissected  each group of words between us to try to find fault. Notta!

It is now New Years Eve in the year of 2010 and I am once again on a ferry boat, heading back to the island for a few last minute details to a visit I made yesterday. What is the chance I will run into her again? I hope not, but I hope so. Perhaps, she was angry last night and needed someone to lash out at. I don't mind being a target for a moment. "Vent, bash the world by speaking to me." I really don't mind. My main concern is for everyone who is hurting inside because of things, events, that have happened in their lives that they have no control over. Their Freedom has been violated.

How can I help?

By just reaching out to them and offering what help I can. This is why I became an ordained minister a few weeks ago. Not that I have plans on opening a church or becoming an associate pastor of any organized religion. I just felt a calling to help people who don't know where to turn, because the world seems to be crashing down on them.

I have lost a few friends who took their own lives. Suicide is not an option.

Let's go back to this woman...

She did explain that since her mother died, she has no one in her live. Her entire family is gone and she just wanted someone to spend time with her for Christmas. Her mother's companionship on the that special day will no longer be. She has no one and seems to hate everyone. This is why people take their own lives...

As we approach the beginning of a New Year, please take the time to say hello to a perfect, or not so perfect stranger.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Mozi on...