Yesterday I Did Something I May Yet Live to Regret

We need to recover our common humanity without fear of ill consequences

I went out for a walk and was ambling along the highway next to a field that was being tended by what looked like a small group of immigrant workers. They all wore straw hats to shade them from the stifling, burning heat of the Japanese sun as they worked planting seeds.

As I passed, one of them, a tall dark skinned guy, called after me.

“ Hello “ he said.

I stopped to return the greeting.

“ Where are you from ?” he said as I took a few steps back to get closer to him all the better to hear him.

“ Europe “ I replied. “ And you ?”

“ Sri Lanka “ he said. “ How long have you been here.” Sometimes this comes across as intrusive to the point of being interrogative. However, he gave me a friendly smile as he said it.

He told me his name was Fernando, which I pointed out didn’t sound very Sri Lankan. He told me it was Portugese. Then he offered me his filthy, dirty, earth laden hand.

For a brief second I hesitated, thinking about the pandemic. Every day my wife tells me to not go anywhere near people. Shake hands ? If I did it and she found out she would kill me.

Oh to hell with it I thought, it would be rude not to accept a harmless hand of friendship and politeness. I took his hand and felt the dirt. It was a caloused hand of hard work lots of us couldn’t do. It felt good to connect, not just to connect with another human being, but to connect with the earth.

Afterwards, as I carried on home I began to feel a sense of regret at what I had done. What if my wife was right ? What if he had the corona virus and passed it on to me. ?

I decided to give my hand a good wash when I got home, which I duly did. However, what I could not wash away was the good vibe he gave me, the warmth of his humanity.

He asked no more of me than to connect. And connect we did. It is what we as humans do. It is what binds us together as an international family of man and woman. It is part of what makes us human.

I will be glad when this pandemic alarm is all over. When we do not have to be paranoid about a simple handshake. When we can all connect just as we used to in the good old days. When we can return to being what we are, human.