Sometimes you just meet someone who is pure ‘nice’

I drew it

Earlier today in Etampes, France, I had been walking by a tabac, which is like a little French convenience store. I saw some girls hanging out in front and so I went in to get some chocolate. Immediately the man looked at me and smiled. I smiled back. He was friendly and before I knew it he was offering me a piece of baklava. I tried to explain that I was allergic to wheat (‘pas de ble!’) but he didn’t understand and kept saying it was good and his Jordanian grandmother made it and it was ‘on him’ and so I couldn’t refuse him so I took it and we chatted a while and I tried to share a bit about me and how my family is from ‘Yugoslavie and we have baklava too’ and he showed me lots of pictures on his tiktok page of tourists from ‘angleterre’ and ‘norwege’ and singers (‘chanteurs’) that have come through and I said he was very generous and he said that he just wanted to make me ‘content’ and then he offered me an espresso and I said that ‘J’achete’ (‘I’d pay for it’) and he said ‘No no it’s on him’ and I couldn’t believe it and so I accepted it and then he offered me one little chair next to the freezer and then two young teenage boys came in and they looked like twins and they said ‘bonjour’ each of them in a friendly way and I said it back to them and then they all chatted a bit while I sipped my coffee and the man pointed out things for them to buy and they listened and when they left they smiled again at me and said ‘Bonsoir’ and then I bought two little candy toys for my kids and I told the man that I wanted to take a picture of him so I got a picture and then I told him that most people are not as generous as him and he smiled and didn’t say much and I told him he gave me hope for humanity (with a wink in my eye) and he said that if I was ever in town again I should stop by and I could have a beer but he doesn’t drink and not only because it’s Ramadan. And I thanked him and felt a warm glow in my heart like the grinch did after the who’s down in whoville showed him wassup and I still feel very grateful for that ‘experience’ and don’t want to forget it.

Of course there are other generous people around the world but to offer something out of the blue for nothing like that is pretty rare. He didn’t even try to hit on me, nothing. It was amazing.