Amtrak is a box of chocolates..

 

and you never know what you're going to get (or meet)! 

A new job in bay area, required me to commute and take Amtrak both ways. After two years of pandemic, that was a rare chance to see and meet diverse people from all walks of life. One such interaction stayed in my mind. Here is what happened..

I was trying to get work done on laptop at a lower level in the train, when in rolled a burly man, in his seventies, with a mask on, on a wheelchair. His cap said he was a vietnam war veteran. He parked the wheelchair next to a wide table and started talking on phone. From the sound of it, it was clear that he really enjoyed talking. It exuded eloquence, warmth, good humor and positive vibes in general. After the call, he looked at us fellow passengers and from the corner of my eyes, it was clear he was looking for some kind of connection as a pretext to talk. After some time, he broke the ice and started talking with me and another fellow passenger. It was mostly one-way as he could not hear us well. "I am the grateful for each day I get to live. As a marine, I survived war, survived 5 heart attacks. Last year at this time, I had lost my ability to speak and feel half of my body, and now look at me. I have a wife that I fall in love everyday and just few months back, our daughter gifted us with a grand-daughter as she had a baby!" We asked him where he was coming from. He had taken two buses from Palo Alto Veteran's clinic specializing in polytrauma, boarded the train and was headed from Sacramento, alone. I was impressed.. and but also worried. 

Then with a lowed voice and a more serious tone he said.. "Sir.. do you get a salary? In your paystub, you will see the tax witholding. Those taxes are paying for the care I received today, and you ought to know what you are getting for your money. So I am here to report that, the polytrauma clinic in Palo Alto is the best care your taxes can buy. The people there work magic, and are working for a mission, and not just a paycheck. They truly embody the spirit of service and empathy for fellow humans. I would not be here talking to you, and walking without the the doctors and nurses there." then he stood up and showed us that he could walk.

While working in parallel, I tried to occasionally glance and respond with comments. But he could not hear them, so he sat in front of me and really wanted to talk to me. Then he went into his experience at the marine bootcamp, how it changes you. Vietnam war, and the movie "Good morning Vietnam". He said he listened to the original broadcast, and at the top of his voice, he demonstrated the difference in Robin William's delivery vs how it actually was. He talked about why he joined marine at the age of 17. "My mother and father both served in world war 2 in different ways. What do you get when you cross them, me! and that's why I was destined to serve.". Distracted by work, I was paying half-attention, trying to walk a fine line between respecting but distancing, but then a story he told made me stop work and really listen. Oakland station came, and next to the station there was graffiti and trash from homeless encampments there. Somehow riffing off that, he started talking about race relations. "Back when I grew up in San Francisco. There was a real feeling of community. In my backyard, on any day, you would find kids of all and any colors, white, black, asian. We would play, skate around each house on the block all day in summer. Back in 1960, before the civil rights era, my mother had thought deeply about this issue and written two pages on prescription of how to solve it. She said, to solve race relations problem, we must not bother about the race and not think about it any way." Then his eyes narrowed by the memory of his mother. "My mother.. she was such a gentle soul. When we were kids, she lined us up one day and with tears in her eyes told us what happened. She was coming out of a grocery store, when somebody opened the door for her. As she walked out, she heard the  African american accent and a strong low voice. "You are welcome!". She realized she had not thanked the young man, and that slip tormented her enough to repent and confess to her kids about it." At this point, I could see tears in his eyes, and I gently pressed his hand. I recommended him to write down this stories like this and send them to a magazine. He clearly had a story to share.

After that we talked a bunch and the conversation took a completely different turn. He talked about immigration and how we need strong borders, but still allow exceptional people to come in, H1B program, farm workes program. He asked me about my citizenship (I became US citizen last year) and whether I was going to vote. When I said I already did, through a mail-in ballot, his face became visibly angry. He said, "by early voting, you are shortchanging your ability to change your mind until the voting day, and in turn, shortchanging me as a fellow citizen. All citizens must approach voting with utmost sincerity and even for mail-in, you should wait until the election day. Who knows, on the last day, you may find out about child trafficking ring that one of the politicians operate." This last bit alarmed me of a conspiracy theory, but I did not want to argue with this good man, and said I will do so the next time.

Then the topic turned to pandemic and another divisive topic, the vaccines. He said he believs in vaccines, but just not the Covid one. He talked about how everyone who got vaccines contracted Covid sometimes twice or more, including Dr. Fauci. He talked about Bill Gates and how he funds vaccine research in India which is dubious. How people who took vaccine now may suffer from long-term side effects and may be eligible for cash reward as compensation. Now I really wanted push back, and correct his thinking. I tried.. after all the organization he mentioned, the Serum institute, was from my hometown in Pune and is the world's largest manufacturer of life saving vaccines which immensely help sub-saharan Africa. I am not sure how well I did.. because my station was about to arrive and I had to get up, wear helmet and dismount my bike from the hooks. I said good-bye and while I was waiting by the doorways, I reflected on the life journey I just heard, and how truly good people, patriotic people can form wrong ideas in their head, thanks to dishonest politicians and media pundits. After I boarded off the train, I wish I had thanked him for his service and a life well lived, and for sharing his story with me. It was fascinating, reassuring yet unnerving in different ways.