Tuesday, April 3, 2012

The Boat

I have a friend who once decided to leave the States for two years. As he packed, I began to panic: what if he was The One? (In retrospect, this was a ridiculous idea; I think he's still laughing about it.) Google has failed me but somewhere there exists a dialogue to the effect of:

-You missed the boat.
-What boat?
-The boat that, when it comes in, is a boat but when it leaves, is a ship.

Below rear-window Madonna and Manchester stickers, many cabs in Monrovia have a little message. The messages are referred to as Taxi Wisdom. Taxi Wisdom is painted only on the back bumper, though, so you can't read it on an approaching car.

It only hits you as the car is pulling away.

Taxi Wisdom says a lot about Liberians -- mostly, that they are God-fearing people. My favorite is TROUBLE CAN'T LOOK FOR MAN.

I think it reminds me of friends who hand me their tattered lives and say, "Here. Fix this." Maybe it reminds me of me, making ships out of boats and forgetting I'm on a yacht.

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