Couple With Time on Their Side
I was talking another stroll through City Hall today. It was just a coincidence that I was here to meet my girl for dinner again. I really don't come here very often. In fact, we didn't even end up having dinner near City Hall. But regardless of where I ended up, I found myself in the middle of Seoul once again.
To go where I had to be, I could either cross the street or go underground to take the subway passage. I decided to stay above ground. 'Plenty of time to be under it when I get older', I told myself.
It is not an easy task to cross the street in this part of Seoul. Actually, it is quite difficult to cross any street in Seoul. Back in the States, you'll have a car blocking the crosswalk at most 1:10 times. Well that's the statistic from where I'm from. I don't know about New York City or L.A.. But Portland, not too many drivers have enough ignorance/spite for pedestrians to block the walkway and even fewer vehicles drive through it when there is a green walk signal glowing.
Not the case in Seoul. Consider yourself fortunate if you're able to cross streets without zigzagging through cars or having to withhold yourself from crossing because a vehicle is coming your way and it doesn't look like it has any intention to stop.
Regardless of the degree of difficulty of crossing streets, I found myself waiting at a cross walk. In front of me were three lanes designated for cars to travel to my right and beyond those lanes was a small patch of "side walk" for those who were not able to make it all the way across to the sidewalk at which I was standing. And, of course, beyond that small patch of "side walk" were three more lanes which are designated to go to my left. Three ways mega streets with a small mid-way point in between.
Something on that mid-way area caught my attention. In the middle of those six, incredibly congested streets, was a couple. If I had to guess, the man was about 85 and the woman, perhaps, two years younger. By the way, I have a keen eye for age. Anyway, during the natural gaps formed while vehicles passed, I put as much concentration as I could on examining this couple. I went as far as turning off my mp3 player. The old man was trying to hold the woman's arm, but she was having nothing to do with it. With the stubbornness which only comes with old age, she continually swatted his hand away. Not like you would swat away a mosquito, but more like you would a fly that kept landing on your arm.
Finally the cross walk signal turned green. I looked both ways to make the sure and I began to walk. Mind you, I must have been one of about 30 people waiting to cross the street and the couple that I was eying had a head start of the people six lanes away from me. Basically, I was part of a wave of people who were seconds away from sweeping up this old man and old woman. As the crowd began to close in, the old woman, who would not allow the old man to hold her arm initially, seemed to have instinctively put out her arm for the old man to grab. Muscle memory must have kicked in because the old man took her arm into his hand to lead her through this barrier safely.
I couldn't help but close the gap between myself and this couple and as I passed, I kept watch on them until my eyes became parallel to my shoulder. Because of the their age, their steps were short. Only half the length per step of you or I. And even with my headphones turned off, I couldn't not hear what the old man was telling his wife but I am 100% sure that he was speaking to her as they walked. Perhaps even whispering.
When I noticed this, one request rushed into mind: No matter what happens in the middle of my life, may my life end like theirs ; with the wife still trusting in her husband for protection and with the husband willing to do what he can to protect his wife.
