Unusual

At 4am this morning whilst doing my paperwork at a local service station, a bloke suddenly appeared at the cab window. "Mate, are you starting or finishing ?" he asked. Though I was finishing work, I could've easily taken the fare. But in the split second needed to answer, something told me not to accept. So I didn't.

Maybe what spooked me was his grizzled face, bearded and shaggy-haired. Or his dirty black jeans, black sweatshirt and the large bag slung over his shoulder, all of which gave him the appearance of an itinerant. Then there was the large white slogan emblazoned across the front of his sweatshirt: C_ _T.

Yet despite this, as I watched him wander into the servo there was also something about his polite acceptance of my refusal which made me reconsider, and I decided to take him after all. If nothing else, the bloke had a certain character.

After he climbed in I asked, "Off to work ?" "Nah," he chuckled, "I finished work 12 hours ago. That’s why I brought a jar of coffee at the servo, to keep the missus happy when I get home." He’d spent the evening at a mate’s place.

I remarked that his missus must be pretty easy going to accept a jar of coffee as consolation for hanging out with his mate all night. He opened up his phone and said, "Yeah, she’s a good one - here, check this out." The phone showed a head and shoulder image of a pretty, young Asian girl. "How old is she ?", I asked. "Twenty two," he said. "Over half my age."

Of course I wanted to know all about it. "Aww, it’s a funny story," he said, somewhat sheepishly. "...a bit unusual, I suppose. When I was a young fella I used to go out with her mother." This was a total surprise and all I could say was, "You’re joking.." But he wasn’t, and soberly recounted the circumstances.

"First she got deported and then I ended up in jail and we lost touch." Until a few years ago when her daughter showed up on his doorstep. "Her mother had died," he explained, "so when she was old enough she came to Australia looking for her father."

"We did the DNA test and I weren’t her father," he continued, "and...well, things just went from there, I suppose. But it’s cool. Even though some people think it’s weird, we love each other heaps." Enough to be soon getting married and he spoke warmly of her, proudly relating her ongoing academic achievements.

As he paid the fare I wished him all the best for the wedding. Sure, it seemed like a weird relationship but what could one say ? It wasn’t illegal, just unusual. Maybe I’m just too old fashioned.

Comments

[Britt]

maybe it's the american ignorance in me, but what is a servo?

[DJC]

servo = service station. Gas station in Americanese.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servo (number 7 in the list)

[Dataceptionist]

Hmm, book by its cover and all that I guess.
Admittedly, as soon as you said Asian, I thought Mail-Order-Bride...

[EA]

I applaud you for not judging the passengers as many would. As you said, their relationship is not illegal and they are probably the only family either of them has left. I hope those who do judge couples like this or people less fortunate really appreciate what they have when they return to their house in the tree line suburbs with their family waiting for them with open arms.

I also applaud you on your Anzac Day posts and am very disappointed that a reader would use that post as chance to vent their anger on soldiers and the Iraq war. I do not condone or support the Iraq war but I do support all of people in the Defence force that put their lives on the line everyday be it today or in the past. They are all someone's sons, daughters, mothers and fathers. Did that reader forget about WW1 and WW2 where soldiers fought hard for what we have today? I don't think it was that reader who was trudging through jungle in Borneo, Malaysia, New Guinea or Darwin..struggling to survive in POW camps...I have a couple of exes in the Defence Force so if anyone should bare a grudge it should be me but I admire them for what they are doing.

Your blogs are fantastic and I wish you a safe and happy journey!

[Yobbo]

It's not unusual for an asian girl to marry a man 20 years older than her. In fact, it's pretty common in most Asian cultures.

The theory is that a man is at his peak in his 40s, and a girl is at hers in her 20s, so it's a perfect match.

And since older Chinese people typically live with their children in later life, having your husband die before you isn't the issue it is in Western Society, because you won't be alone, you'll be living with your kids and grandkids.

[Yobbo]

In actual fact, most asian girls don't even look for someone in their own age group, typically when looking for a partner, they'll set their sights on someone 10 years older or more.

Chinese culture is very pragmatic. It is pretty much accepted that 20-30 year old guys will be too interested in sowing their wild oats, and won't have progressed far enough in their careers yet to support a family, so they aren't good husband material yet.

[SurferCam]

That is a bit bizarre...
Must be a weird feeling having sex with a mother and a daughter....

[Anthony]

What's he doing out at 4.00AM when he's got a 22yo girlfriend at home?

[steve at the pub]

Let's hope the DNA test results weren't mixed up at the lab.

[pat]

They may not share DNA but she's still fucking her old man.

[art]

coo coo ca choo, mrs. robinson...