Bucheon, Korea, Evening of January 22nd. A mentally-retarded young man spotted me on a bus and began to follow me after we got off. He insisted I take a handful of coins he had. I politely rejected his offer of the coins. He didn't accept my answer. He kept offering the coins, and kept following me.
At first he gestured towards a bakery-coffeeshop (I doubt his coins' value were sufficient to buy anything there). After we passed it, he pointed to a nearby fruit seller. It seemed he wanted to eat together. The young man was literally and metaphorically extending his hand in a gesture of friendship.
At first he gestured towards a bakery-coffeeshop (I doubt his coins' value were sufficient to buy anything there). After we passed it, he pointed to a nearby fruit seller. It seemed he wanted to eat together. The young man was literally and metaphorically extending his hand in a gesture of friendship.
He couldn't speak even his native language (Korean) well. Things came out garbled. His actions likewise were pushing the limits even of "odd". His movements were jerky. He repeatedly scanned his transport card while waiting to get off the bus (you're only supposed to do it once). His face had a tic. He was riding the bus alone and this alone is impressive.
His offer of his small handful of coins was pathetic, in the original sense of the word, "causing or evoking pity or sympathetic sadness". I told him sorry one last time and ascended the stairs into the train station, leaving him behind. The last image I have of him is of him staring up sadly at me, not moving.
Korean coins are almost more an annoyance to me than anything. He couldn't conceive that his would-be gift, the handful of coins, had little value to me. They were a big deal to him. It's like the Bible story about the poor woman who donated two pennies. Jesus praises her because her relative donation exceeded that of all the chief priests.
This young man was my mental inferior by a wide margin (and actually the mental inferior of any normal person). Perhaps he, too, understood this at some level and was frustrated by it during our two minutes together. I imagine what it would be like to be in his place. Meeting hyper-intelligent extra-terrestrials, say. In that case, I would be the retarded(-seeming) one. (All things being relative.) Any attempt I might make to be friendly to such far-mental-superiors would be viewed at best condescendingly, like my own view of the retarded boy I've described above...
His offer of his small handful of coins was pathetic, in the original sense of the word, "causing or evoking pity or sympathetic sadness". I told him sorry one last time and ascended the stairs into the train station, leaving him behind. The last image I have of him is of him staring up sadly at me, not moving.
Korean coins are almost more an annoyance to me than anything. He couldn't conceive that his would-be gift, the handful of coins, had little value to me. They were a big deal to him. It's like the Bible story about the poor woman who donated two pennies. Jesus praises her because her relative donation exceeded that of all the chief priests.
This young man was my mental inferior by a wide margin (and actually the mental inferior of any normal person). Perhaps he, too, understood this at some level and was frustrated by it during our two minutes together. I imagine what it would be like to be in his place. Meeting hyper-intelligent extra-terrestrials, say. In that case, I would be the retarded(-seeming) one. (All things being relative.) Any attempt I might make to be friendly to such far-mental-superiors would be viewed at best condescendingly, like my own view of the retarded boy I've described above...
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