15 Eylül 2017 Cuma

Somewhere with Palm Trees

As of today, I will try to write a few lines here a couple times per week.

Today on the way home from a dinner with friends, I was stopped by a gesticulating guy at the U-Bahn station to grab my attention, since I had my headphones on. He seemed to be around his early 40's or ill-treated 30's.

He asked me if I had a ticket for the tube as I took off my headphones. I told him I had one. Then he asked for some change. I gave him the coins I had.

'Before you leave' he said 'do you have a minute?'. 'Sure' I said reluctantly. Enthusiasm is exploited on streets as you know.

He asked me where I'm from. I told him my nationality. He said 'cool!' with a surprisingly genuine tone. Many Germans get startled when they hear I'm Turkish, especially since I have blue hair now. The rest remain indifferent.

Then cometh the ultimate question: 'What do you think of Erdoğan?'

I smiled politely, told him that I don't support him. We talked about the political situation a bit. He didn't have well-informed opinions, though his heart was in the right place, so it's all fine. I told him something along the lines of 'Don't consider people of Turkey to be all like him.' He replied he always considers everyone individually. 'Important thing is to be human.' he said. 'I am actually a punk, I had a Mohawk. But now I got rid of it, coz it's hard to find flats to rent when you look like that you know. I lived in Turkey for a bit. People always asked me if I had a place to stay, offered me food etc. They were really nice.'

He also told briefly of the time he hung out with some punks when he was in Nürnberg.

Finally he suggested we grab a beer (or optionally *snorting gesture*). The whole day he is collecting tickets from passengers who are done with their commute and sell it to passengers without tickets. He's bored, it would be cool to hang out.

I declined of course, wished him a very nice evening. Why did I decline? Because I'm tired from work already, my soul is depleted. Because I'm an introvert. Because I'm a conformist, I cannot handle the potential risk of accepting such a proposal on my mental stability.

I wish I wasn't though. I wish I could get more out of life. I wish him all the best.


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Song of the day:

I discovered this song today. It's a nice collaboration from K-Pop giants Taeyang & Zico. I look forward to the music video.