I sank low in the fake leather easy chair in the large waiting room. This was the first sunny day in Atlanta in weeks, it seemed, and the car wash was bustling. Next to me sat a large man in his 60s, a large McDonalds sack in his lap and an extra large drink on the floor. He had a kind face, large thick glasses that were so smudged that I thought about snatching them off his face and giving them a quick cleaning.
“How ya doing,” he said. “I’m fine, how are you? I said, being polite. After a minute or two, he turns to me and said, “Would you like to have a conversation with me?” A split second thought goes through my mind – do I really want to talk to this guy? As a woman, sometimes conversations with men can take a weird turn. But I thought, I’m only going to be here for 30 minutes max and “why not.” I said, “Sure.”
He began, “I was thinking about things I learned in school, like the continents and I was trying to remember all the continents. Let’s see, there’s the United States, Canada, Russia…”
I said, “I think there are seven, North America, South America, Australia, Europe, Asia.” He blurts out “Africa”, yes Africa. Is Russia included in Asia, he inquired. “Yes, I think so. But we’re forgetting one…hmmm, I’m afraid I’m going to have to cheat and look it up.” I get out my phone and quickly google continents. Of course, Antartica. “It’s very cold there,” he said. “Yes, it’s cold there.”
“What about organs of the body?” and he starts naming parts of the body…teeth, tongue, esophagus, stomach…” I interrupt, I’m not sure I can name organs in the body. I do recall though that the skin is the largest organ in the body. “Yes, skin.” he said.
“Are you from Atlanta?” I ask. “Yes, born and raised,” he said. “Where did you go to high school,” he asked. “Macon, GA,” I say. “Ah, Otis Redding,” he said. “Little Richard and the Allman Brothers,” I say. He looks longingly, “You know, I miss Prince.” “Me too,” I say. “I bet if Prince came on right now (I noted there was a blaring TV with a college basketball game roaring) everyone in this room would start dancing.” I said, “I know I would.” I told him that Don and I had seen Prince’s last show at the Fox and that I’m sorry he’s gone. Truly a giant. He says, “you know Prince was a light skinned man, not brown like me, more white, like you.” There’s a pause in the conversation. He said, “once I knew a woman who was brown and she gave birth to a baby who was white like you. You know it’s just pigment, and it don’t matter.” I said, “yes, it don’t matter, we’re all related, really.” Another break of silence.
“What do you know about Martin Luther King?” he asked, “do you think Martin would have become president?” I said, “I’m not sure, but he had such an impact on all of us, I feel like he was president.” “Do you think he ever met the president,” he wondered. I said, “I think so, I think they worked on passing the Civil Rights Act.” “Then he died,” he said. I said, “I once heard someone say, that MLK didn’t ‘die’ he was ‘murdered.’ There’s a difference.” Another break of silence.
“Does Jimmy Carter live in Atlanta,” he asks. I said, “I think he lives in Plains, GA. I know he still teaches Sunday School and that you can go to his Sunday School class at his church.” “That’s cool,” he says. Another pause in our conversation.
I’m curious and ask the man, where do you work? He says, I’m a custodian and I work at the CDC on the night shift.” Over the loud speaker, I hear them call my car, white Honda Civic is ready.
He says, as I’m gathering my stuff, “I don’t get to talk to many people.” “Well, sir, my car is ready” and I stick out my hand. He grabs it and gives it a good shake. “Nice talking to you,” I say. “Nice talking to you, too.”