Chinese HitchHiker

Here's the whole story of Friday afternoon. I was leaving Bar Harbor and on my way by the College of Atlantic this Chinese guy in a blue suit and brief case holds up one finger in the air like he's hailing a taxi, I thought what the hell!? Then as I got down the road a ways I remembered I'd forgotten to pick up lobsters for dinner and had to turn around. On my way by I saw the guy hold up now two fingers to another truck and thought, That fool is trying to hitch hike. 1

I told my friend at the lobster pound about this weird guy in a blue suit and said if he was still there I was gonna pick him up and teach him how to hitch hike. He was so I did. I pulled up along side and said "Hey you git in the truck! Are you trying to hitch hike!?" Yesss, yesss, is how he said it. You know total broken language I could only understand about every third word. Anyways I showed him how to hold his thumb and point it in the direction he's going. Then I said to him "This means, That'ah away!" Hahaha.... 2

Well we got goin down the road and he says "You have big heart" "You know? You know? For picking me up?" I told him I'm a writer and always up for an adventure showing him the book. He got it as I heard him repeat "writer" and look through the book. But ya know they get our words choppy in understanding as we do them. Then he says to me "You are rich man" I chuckled and said "Hell no!" He pokes me in the belly and said "Yesss you are rich man all big people in China rich!" I laughed harder and replied no I'm just fat. Most poor people in America are fat 'cause all we can afford is cheap junk food. Followed by more of my laughter. 3

So come to find out this guy is heading to Bangor International Airport from The Jackson Lab to catch a flight back to China. The Lab should take better care of their guest's. I was heading to Ellsworth and he was going to grab a taxi from there. I pulled into Super Wal-Mart and dropped him off at the traffic lights. Once finished shopping I never gave the little guy another thought until I got a few miles down the road and saw him in the middle of town trying to catch a ride by walking up to vehicles knocking on windshields at another intersection. I gave him another holler. "Hey! Git in the truck!" then I asked him why aren'tcha holding up ya thumb!?" He said "Ooh yesss, ooh yess" "That'ah way" waving his thumb in the air. I told him well your half way to Bangor now. I'll get you on the straight stretch out of town and then I'm going the other direction. Said my "Good Luck's" and drove home at the corner wondering if he'd ever catch his flight.