We ate at a diner on our first night in Chiang Mai. The people's diner. This place had the vibe of a midwest diner serving up Thailand's comfort food. In walked a kind and gentle soul selling Thailand's lottery ... We bought tickets from him. He smiled so true and warm. Though he'd been born with a severe birth defect that is unnecessary to go into detail about on this log, his smile was radiant. Due to the lack of access to prescreening throughout Thailand we'd see people who were birthed with serious defects. The welling up this would cause in me... overwhelming.
That night, watching this man hawking lottery tickets... the way he smiled... oh that smile... this put things into a monumental perspective for me. From the joy of life to the disgust for people with self-entitlement. His daily trials unfathomable to so many. I wanted to thank him for this realization, but it was ten minutes later I realized this. I kept our tickets as a reminder of that night.
those realizations -- they always come a moment too late (although never too late). i think they are supposed to come to you later like that...
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