Being Smart and Stupid at the Same Time

I have made the decision to be more social. And my first step here was to have a conversation with Allen.

How did I first meet him? I can't remember, but when I did, he was living in one room in a low-priced place used by backpackers. That was all the housing he needed: one room. I got a distinct impression that he was dimwitted.

He also went for long walks by himself and was a friendly guy.

We both ate at a fast-food place (called a Soda in Spanish) downtown. Neither one of us spoke Spanish, but he did not seem to realize this, and he would flirt (in English) with the women there. He moved to this place, where he also had one room and ate simple meals, and was pleased by the low prices. I went there to buy their chicken burger, which had everything in it.

Then he decided to go back to the States, and when talking to me about this he mentioned that he had been a schoolteacher up there. He left, and I never expected to see him again.

Eight months passed before I unexpectedly met him again, in the store next to the Soda. He had decided this was the place for him, living just as he had. I was so astonished, I didn't know what to say.

But since I had decided to be more social this was a good place to start. A few days later, I asked him about his experiences as a teacher. He really lit up when telling me about this! I could tell he was a natural-born teacher and this where he belonged: teaching grade school in America.

We also talked about programming, something I know about myself. He knows about this and makes some money now using his Laptop to do this. I could not be more amazed!

But he wants to get married and married down here. When he doesn't know Spanish!