Nice People

Before we left Hong Kong, a well traveled friend explained to me that the kindness of the locals we met while traveling is different than the infamous kindness of Canadians.  She says that the kindness you encounter in Asia is largely due to the fact that everyone is selling something.  Whether it's street food, trinkets, advertising for their restaurant or some sort of tour, just about everyone in Asia is nice to you because they want something from you.  Canadians will apparently be nice to you for no reason whatsoever.

Today I was in line at the grocery store.  Standing in line at the "less than 12 items" check out, an old man took his place behind me.  Not a minute had gone by before he started chatting me up, telling me about the convenience of tv dinners, which he only eats when he doesn't feel like cooking... which isn't often because he loves to cook.  He's never cooked a roast before because it's just him and a roast is a lot of food for one person, but the next time there's a sale he's going to buy a roast and then portion and freeze the leftovers for sandwiches.  He'll keep the frozen meet, along with his tv dinners in the freezer under the stairs... He's made friends with some of the women working at Superstore, because he's a regular shopper and sometimes they stop him to say hello because they recognize him because he's a regular shopper.... It's such a beautiful day today....

He continued this type of kind and random banter with myself, everyone else in line, and the lady working the till... for no apparent reason but to be friendly and kind.