Encounter

Today as I walked to work, I was approached by a Mongolian man in his mid-40s. I turned back to return his greeting as he walked up behind me. He asked me, "Where are you from?" (a question routinely posed to foreigners by Mongolian men), to which I responded, "United States." Smiling at me knowingly, he said "Ahhh, George Bush. George Bush. Not good." I concurred, "No, no, not very good at all." He then introduced himself, and I gave my name in return, shaking his hand. We walked a few paces in silence, then he looked me squarely in the eye and said, "Please help me. Just a dollar." While I maintain a policy against handing out money on the street, this morning I legitimately had no cash with me--not a tugrug to my name. Apologetically, but assertively, I conveyed this fact to him. He asked again, to which I again replied that I was very sorry but had no money for him. He took a step backward, then clasped my hand back into his. "Ben?" he said, haltingly. Pausing, he put his index finger to his forehead, as though summoning a few meager words in English across some great chasm of memory. Then he said, "You treat me like a human being. Thank you. Thank you." He released his grip and smiled, briefly, then departed, waving as he went. I waved back and continued down the street.