On the day when I had the chiro appointment, I drove to a place where she waited for me. On arriving, it turned out that she was going to drive me to the chiro clinic from there on. Again, it was obvious that I was old enough to go there by myself, but how nice of her to offer me to do so…
We left the park, and drove on a freeway toward the suburbs. Soon, we began to be surrounded by rice paddies which gave the scenery such a rural atmosphere – completely different from the one my area had.
It got me more and more excited.
While we were in her car, we were having so-called a “lively conversation” only to find that mainly she was talking. All she was talking was about her, and basically, I listened. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was interested in the person she was talking to and spending time with at all …I was curious about it, but I tried to convince myself,
“Well, I guess I’d better ignore this for now. This isn’t very important anyway …”
The driving was OK. In the car, her favorite Japanese popular songs were played. She made her own “original compilation album” she boasted which consisted of some hit songs from the past. They all sounded familiar to me. She said the lyrics of them were so encouraging to her that singing along while driving made her feel good and special. She gave me a passionate look when saying so.
To be honest, I was not as enthusiastic as those songs were not my cup of tea. Those songs come with easy-to-understand mundane (plus cheerful) messages and the light melody of music. I’m a whimsical type of person who tends to dislike things that are very popular with public like just another ordinary or outright business-oriented creation (such as “J-Pop”). So, if I was allowed to express myself freely, those songs would never become my favorite. I felt that in a small space like that, sharing time with someone while listening to songs of little interest to me can be a torture as music was an important part of my life. The more enthusiastic the person can be, the more unenthusiastic I can be. Friends don’t always have to have the same taste in music, and I didn’t think we were friends then, but I got the feeling that we could never be.
At the chiro place, she showed me around by walking ahead of me. I just followed her wondering what would come next. I asked her if she also had an appointment for that day, and she said no. No? I said so in my mind feeling a bit puzzled.
Then how come she can be that kind to come with me all the way here, huh?
I wondered.
This was my simple and honest impression. Surprisingly, she was thinking of not only taking me here, but also staying with me throughout my treatment! But what happened next was even more surprising.
She came into the treatment room too, and lay down on the couch next to my bed and started taking a nap without asking me about it!
I was a little shocked, and didn’t know what to do. I thought I would need to give my personal information to the chiro, but how was I going to do it with the presence of another person whom I had met only a few times? So I looked at the chiro to see what he was going to do, but he didn’t say anything and began asking me questions as if there wasn’t anything strange about the whole thing.
I was just helpless, utterly overwhelmed by the situation.
To be continued to #3
※ This essay was originally written in June, 2018 with a little (maybe excessive?) modifications later.
A nosey parker is someone who wants to know too much about other people.
ako's English Diary 