He's just the kind of guy you want to take for a nice cup of tea and a game of chess. He's got some real thick metal parts in his teeth and a pair of square lens spectacles and every time I go in to the conbeeny he'll always reach for a plastic bag and every time I'll always stumble through one of my few stock Japanese phrases and wave away the need for a plastic bag. That's service for you. He's ready for the day I change my mind.
Recently, I've been ducking in late at night, craving something sweet. Lately I've even taken to trying some Japanese sweet things, dango sticks being my current squeeze (angko dango in particular). Conbeeny Man chuckles and says 'Amaimono' to me and I nod and we go through the plastic bag charade and I walk away with a smile. Tonight however, he went one step further and we actually talked, until another customer wandered in and walked up to the counter.
Conbeeny Man has travelled. He's once been to London with four friends (got that bit) and they couldn't find their hotel (here he gesticulated and looked around the ceiling perimeter in mock lost) and there was something about his heart he said but I'm pretty sure it wasn't any condition or trouble.
I want to record this guy. I want to take a picture of him at his counter with the cigarettes and the microwave in the background. I have more contact with him than I do some teachers at school. But maybe that would freak him out and then it'd be awkward and he'd never talk again except to offer a plastic bag and I'd eventually have to stop going there to avoid the embarrassment. Probably best left then.
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