Y'never know...a bum on the street could be Christ"

I swear ya gotta pay for everything. The waiting time was about half an hour, and there was a little waiting room with plenty of chairs. I was joined by a man about my age, in filthy clothes, unshaven, toothless,  and in the mood for company. He was very loud and as luck would have it,  and unfortunately for them,well known by everyone trapped in that line. "You look like like a Hathaway. I'm sure you're a Hathaway. By Gawd, I bet I knew your father," he would shout across the floor.  No one could escape this man as he yelled out family names, listed all the relatives and relatives of relatives, whom he went to school with in the 50s, what businesses they ran and he worked in, etc. People were gracious but in the time I was there, no fewer than 5-6 different small towns were represented there by customers in line and he knew the families of almost everyone in that line. He was so loud, and brazen, everyone had to acknowledge him. Quite frankly it was amazing.   He knew husbands, lovers wives, children and grandchildren of all these people. He was loud, embarrassing, unkempt, and absolutely transparent, open, and guileless.

I recalled to myself a Sunday School lesson as a kid when the teacher read a story that Christ might be a bum on the street....you never know.  And though everything about this guy annoyed me, his working memory of everyone in five towns impressed me about what kind of man he must have been in his time.  He obviously just loved people and he was a walking geneaology of the whole area. Thinking I might have been forgotten, I got in line again if only to be out of reach of this man who turned to me on every contact and continued his folklore and mention again that had turned cold enough outside today to freeze your rice balls. I was told politely they were working on my order and it would be just a couple more minutes. I took one look behind me and said "perhaps I'll wander a bit then." the clerk smiled and said gently..." sorry about that". The girl knew what it meant...I would lose my place in line and being new, no one would be likely to recognize me and call me to the front if my order was ready. I wandered a bit, but it paid off. I found Over the Moon fat Free chocolate milk someone had told me helps peole with leg problems, and got a gallon of it. Yay! Another argument for synchronicity. But as I got back, sure enough over a dozen people were in line ahead of me. Woe is me. By now my back and legs are ready to totally give out and the old man was still there. I went through the whole dozen people, got to the front, and my order was ready and in fact had been ready almost as soon as I had opted to wander a little. ( and I'm thinking, yet you saw me wait through this whole dozen people when I came back knowing that. I'm sure you could hear my teeth gritting across the store as I smiled and thanked them for the extra special treatment to a customer coming from another pharmacy.
  As I finally eased with great relief into my car seat  and drove away, I thought that I had indeed met the Christ and wasn't sharp enough at the time to know it. I smiled hinking I was glad i stopped n the way out and said some stupid thing like..." Take care of yourself, and the next time we meet we will both know enough to wear our longjohns."