i've been thinking a lot here lately about the adaptation of things. how we, as humans, are the most primitive species to adapt so quickly into whatever society we are thrown into. sometimes we adapt for survival of necessity, sometimes for desire, sometimes due to pressure or called-for circumstances, and sometimes because we have no other way to remain the same and not change. so we adapt and become a different version of our previous selves. and this morning, on the metro, i was abruptly reminded of the process of it all. here's my, or rather my familiar strangers, story.
i got on the metro with my handy-dandy ipod playing louder than my ear-drums initially preferred, but nonetheless, like any other day. except at one particular stop, a nice old man came and sat beside me. i'm a peculiarly observative person, so i looked over and analyzed him for a bit... and then i noticed a small tattoo on his arm. i knew immediately it was from a nazi concentration camp, so i shook my head indifferently. apparently, he noticed and he pointed to it and started going off in czech. it took me a few seconds to respond with "no rozumim cesky" (i don't speak czech), so he asked me "mulivite anglitsky or espania" (do you speak english or spanish)... and man, my face lit up! i am shocked no one heard me scream YES, but it felt like i yelled it at the top of my lungs. and then my life proceeded to change.
he went on to tell me that he was taken captive in auschwitz and all his family but his brother died. the stories he told me were insane. anyhow, for the next 20 minutes he told me about the camp and how he migrated from poland after he got out to the czech republic. he said he and his brother were the only ones out of his family to make it out, but afterwards were separated and he has been trying this entire time to locate him. he then went on to tell me that he was here (in prague) during the velvet revolution and about vivid details he remembered about it. i didn't want to interrupt him, but i thought i would pose a question and see about his response. so i asked him what he was most grateful for throughout it all - just in reflection of his life. yes - a deep question from a stranger, but i felt that since he spent most of his life wrapped in discrimination, persecution, and in just plain pain (whether physical, emotional, or mental), that i wanted to pose a question and get him to focus for at least a few minutes on what good could have possible come out of it. and then he told me this:
"there were a lot of things that happened in my life that really messed up the way i saw people. my father told me at a young age that whatever circumstances presented themselves... that i was called to adapt to them; that it would shape me and mold me into a man. not the ordinary everyday man you see on the streets, but a strong-willed, whole-hearted, genuine and kind man. and i am not going to sit here and say i would do it again, because i wouldn't. the stuff they did to us in auschwitz was humiliating and degrading. and it took me a long time not to be angry or resent the people who did it to me and my people, but i forgave them and am a better man because of it. not because of the torment and all that i went through, but because i am man enough to acknowledge a mistake for what it is worth and know that whatever hovers over my head is nothing compared to what hovers over theirs. it took me a long long time to realize that most people aren't filled with hate. that we just need to love each other and respect. i cannot say what it would be like had i realized this a long time ago and put it into effect then, but i can do the best i can now to do just that. so incase no one has told you they loved you and you are meaningful - trust me when i say that you are."
oh. em. gee. i cannot begin to explain the way he made me feel when he said that. the butterflies and chill bumps i had then are still arising as i type. it was just beautiful. his story was beautiful. and he shared it with a stranger from amarillo, texas. my life is changed forever. because of one man's drive to survive and adapt, a small american soul is changed.
don't ever underestimate the soul sitting beside you. they have all the power in the world to change your life.
what a day.
thinkin' of you all and your impact on my life,
- kami.
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