encounter

I was taking a break.  I walked down the corridor to the bathroom in between appointments.  I do this three to six times a day, depending mostly on how much coffee I drink. I thought  I had ten minutes to not deal with anyone.

I opened the door with my key and there was a guy standing near the sink.  He had several kinds of soap and anti-bacterial creams and was squirting them onto his hands and rubbing the combination over his body.  He was about thirty years old and looked a bit dishevelled.

I nodded and smiled, as is usually done at such times, and went over to the urinal in the corner.

He began to talk to me, which is not usual bathroom etiquette.  I soon realized he was not making much sense.

He was here to see  his counselor,but she wasn't here, and he goes to see his parents every weekend, and am I a counselor, and could he ask me a question?  Yeah, he had a question.  And his parents are not doing that well, and he tries to take care of them.  But he could use a counselor, and I sound like I'd be a good counselor --- even though I had only said 'hi".

Then I went over to the sink to wash my hands and he began pointing to his heart, and then tapping on his heart.  He wondered if I could help him and if he could ask me something. I said that he could ask.

I had this speech in my head about how, even though I was a counselor, I had all the cases I could handle, and how could I say nicely that I didn't have time for him, which fortunately is true.  I have that message on my answering message, so I felt it was legitimate.

But he kept tapping his heart and asking if he could ask me something, for about five or six repetitions.

Finally he asked me if I could give him money to take the bus to go see his parents.  He needed $6.50.

I was very relieved that it was only money he was after.  I gave him $2 and fled, feeling as if I got away cheap.