ill met

Yesterday I was waiting for the bus in front of the Kaohsiung train station. I was sitting on one of the benches near the bus sign reviewing a chinese worksheet. I was in my school uniform with the sky blue dress and white top. A person was standing near me and I began to realize that he was talking to me, albeit in a low, weaselly voice (no reference to Harry Potter intended).

"Which bus are you waiting for? Is it 28?"

"No, I'm not waiting for bus 28. Sorry." resume studying.

After a while...

"Can I chat with you?"

"No, I'm sorry, I have a test soon and I need to study." resume studying.

"Can I say a sentence to you?"

"What?"

"I said, can I say a sentence to you?"

"What sentence?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Fine." shrug. resume studying.

"Can we make friends?"

(from your attitude, I'd rather not.) "I'm sorry, not now."

"You're really nice."

"Thanks, you're pretty friendly too." rather difficult to squeeze out a compliment.

"Do you know what age I am?"

One look at him. "19."

He paused, seemed disappointed. "You're correct. And do you know what else?"

"What?"

"Can we make friends?"

"I'm sorry, I don't make friends with strangers." (truth: I don't want to make friends with you.)

"Really? Well. Can I call you mmm..." (I couldn't hear very well)

"What?"

"Can I call you mommy?"

"What? That's absolutely ridiculous. No. I'd rather not."

"Then can I call you 'friend'?"

folding homework. "Look here, I don't think we should make friends just for the sake of making friends, " (besides, I have an idea what you have in mind isn't friendship) "And I don't believe we'll have much to talk about. So let's not waste eachother's time." (meaning my time)

But he kept wheedling.

And I kept refusing.

And finally he walked away.

Oh dear, I do think I'm rather mean.

But he was rather impolite.

So I couldn't not refuse him.

edit June 28, 2007:

I hate having to defend myself. And the guy did say more, but I stopped narrating because I was tired about trying to recall what he said.

First of all. The above conversation may look like me being judgemental ice-maiden during the whole interview and him being pleasant. It was not. I was smiling apologetically all the time. It was a bad time for me to make friends with strangers because I had up-coming tests, and from my experience I knew he was probably going to call me whenever he felt bored and I did not have time to deal with someone else's boredom at the moment, and when I only left my cellphone on for my family to contact me. Perhaps it was my fault that he kept nagging, for I was never very harsh to him and apologetic smiles may be misinterpreted. However, he stood a bit too close and I did ask him to back off a few inches.

For another, you didn't see the guy, and I didn't describe him very well. He had shifty eyes and it felt wrong. Even though he was my age, I knew this was not someone I should try to get entangled with. To be honest. I like talking to strangers, it helps me learn a great deal. But the first look at him set off alarms in my head.

For a third. I did give him a chance to be friends. After I told him that I didn't think it was wise to make friends simply for making friends without anything in common, I said, "Well, do you like to read?"

"Yes."

"Great. What books do you like to read?"

"Just books."

"Really? What type in particular? Science fiction? Fantasy?"

"Yeah, about like that."

"Can you cite some for me, ones you've particularly enjoyed?"

"They're just books."

"Oh... well... have you read Harry Potter?"

"Just the first two series."

"ah, and how did you like them?"

"They were okay."

"okay....well, so have you read Lord of the Rings."

"No."

"Well, they're pretty good, you should try them sometime."

"Okay, so can I have your number?"

( At this point I gave up trying to find a common interest with him)