"What's your name?"

"Amy. And your name?"

"Yosef. Nice to meet you, Amy."

"Nice to meet you, Yosef."

I meet a lot of interesting people during my job. (Have I ever told you what my job is? Think Devil Wears Prada, minus the over-the-top boss. I run around doing random things, which range from being hectic and tense to calm and easy with a lot of hilarity mixed in.) Today I met Yosef. He was born in Ethiopia and grew up in Israel. When I asked where he was from, and he said Israel, my immediate reaction was a surprised, "Really??" He laughed and said, "Yes, really?? I'm interesting, eh?" He moved to Israel when he was young, and at 18, he began service in the Israeli army for three years. I asked if this was still required now, and he said, "Yes, of course!" He said Israel needs it because "she's always hurting." I liked how he called his country "she." Afterwards, he was a bodyguard and then he finally left and came to America at the age of 23. He said, "Well, I'm 52 now..." I burst out laughing. "Why you laughing?" I said, "You don't look 52, Yosef." He chuckled and said, "Nah, I'm 41. And I've lived a good life."

We talked about running (he used to get up at 5AM to run everday), and when I said I liked playing sports, hiking and things like that, he said jokingly, "But you are a woman!!" Somewhere in between, he asked about my husband and I went, "WHOAAA, I am not married." Then I couldn't stop laughing because no one ever thinks I'm married; I always get the what high school do you go to question! Yosef was confused by my reaction and once I gathered myself together, I explained to him why. In turn, he burst out laughing for a good while. "I'm very flattered that you think I'm married." Then he prodded, "Boyfriend?" I paused and shook my head. He said, "They missing out, they missing out." I smiled and shook my head even more.

At the end of our time together, I said, "It was wonderful meeting you, Yosef." He took my hand and said with a smile, "A pleasure, Ms. Amy."

—Monday, February 15, 2010       4 comments       back & forth       Yosef


awesome...and i thought the question u always got was 'what middle school?' -- not high school ;-P
sam
16 Feb 10 at 4:16 AM

Hah, blunt! He reminds me of the only other Israeli I've known.
Captain-P
16 Feb 10 at 6:02 AM

great story. i like the way you write.

Beck
11 Mar 10 at 9:22 AM