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In 1998, while living in Italy, we took a train down to Rome for the weekend. We had booked 2 seats in a first class compartment, knowing that we would have to share. Always dreading this, as the previous time we were trapped for hours with a group with questionable hygiene habits, and they wouldn’t stop smoking. They spoke neither English nor Italian. Quite to our surprise an American and his Italian wife enter the cabin. This was a 6 seat compartment and he said he had booked 4 seats but the other two couldn’t make it at the last minute. Perfect, this would be a nice trip. As we got to talking, we soon realized this man was of the Bahá'í Faith. Something we had never heard of. Having a great interest in other cultures we began to ask questions etc. He was very friendly and of course had literature on it, etc. So spent the next 4 hours being recruited or what we would later learn was being love-bombed into joining this faith. This post is not bash any religion, but it got seriously weird as time went on.
But what impacted us the most, is when he talked about what I assume was their leader. Referred to as the Báb. Which we understood him to say “the Bob”. We literally could not stop laughing. Every time he said it we cracked up. But he persisted in talking about it. As we pulled into Rome, we went to get our luggage and he followed, but didn’t have luggage, which was weird, we knew where our hotel was, so off we went, politely saying goodbye, but they followed all the way to the hotel. My husband is 6’4” and about 230 lbs so we weren’t frightened but a little freaked. We stayed in our room for bit, just to make sure they left. We still refer to it today, when we question something about life etc, “Let’s ask the Bob”. Again, not trying to make fun of another religion.
In the last 20 years I have yet to meet another person of the Bahá'í Faith and can’t recall ever hearing about it on the news etc. This past Christmas we took our 15 yr to Italy and again took the train down to Rome, she was disappointed when she didn’t get recruited, as she has been hearing about “The Bob” her whole life.
I was on a Southwest flight about 5 years ago from St Louis to Los Angeles. I sat next to a couple in their late 60s, and I had the aisle seat. I heard them speaking Spanish, which is a second language for me, so I chatted with them in Spanish for a while just to pass the time.
This nice couple lived in a town in central Illinois and worked at a meat packing plant, cutting up meat for packaging.
They worked a night shift, 10 pm to 6 am. They had lived in the US for nearly 40 years, and had 9 children, all born in the US. 7 out of 9 children had completed a university degree, some had served in the military, some were teachers, some were professionals like doctors or lawyers. I was humbled when they told me this, that is not what I was expecting from two people who worked in a meat packing plant. They told me they were still working, because many of the years they lived in the US they were not legal residents, and had not payed into Social Security for those years. They were still working to increase the amount of social security payout they would get, in other words, more than the minimum amount. They did not want to go live with their children and become dependent on them.
For some reason, my conversation with this couple really stayed with me. It made me think about the positive contribution to our society that people can make, who might otherwise be invisible to most other people. Who would think that two people who work at a meat packing plant, cutting up beef all night long, could have left such a legacy through their children that goes so much further than what their work represents?
I was sitting around the youth hostel in Bucharest when of one of my dormmates asked if I played chess. Sure, so we played a few games, He complained that one of his Russian chess magazines only feature games won by Russians, and it turned out that he was referring to games in which Russians had beaten HIM. I lost, of course, but once he said "nice move". It was Helmut Pfleger. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Pfleger
In 1998, while living in Italy, we took a train down to Rome for the weekend. We had booked 2 seats in a first class compartment, knowing that we would have to share. Always dreading this, as the previous time we were trapped for hours with a group with questionable hygiene habits, and they wouldn’t stop smoking. They spoke neither English nor Italian. Quite to our surprise an American and his Italian wife enter the cabin. This was a 6 seat compartment and he said he had booked 4 seats but the other two couldn’t make it at the last minute. Perfect, this would be a nice trip. As we got to talking, we soon realized this man was of the Bahá'í Faith. Something we had never heard of. Having a great interest in other cultures we began to ask questions etc. He was very friendly and of course had literature on it, etc. So spent the next 4 hours being recruited or what we would later learn was being love-bombed into joining this faith. This post is not bash any religion, but it got seriously weird as time went on.
But what impacted us the most, is when he talked about what I assume was their leader. Referred to as the Báb. Which we understood him to say “the Bob”. We literally could not stop laughing. Every time he said it we cracked up. But he persisted in talking about it. As we pulled into Rome, we went to get our luggage and he followed, but didn’t have luggage, which was weird, we knew where our hotel was, so off we went, politely saying goodbye, but they followed all the way to the hotel. My husband is 6’4” and about 230 lbs so we weren’t frightened but a little freaked. We stayed in our room for bit, just to make sure they left. We still refer to it today, when we question something about life etc, “Let’s ask the Bob”. Again, not trying to make fun of another religion.
In the last 20 years I have yet to meet another person of the Bahá'í Faith and can’t recall ever hearing about it on the news etc. This past Christmas we took our 15 yr to Italy and again took the train down to Rome, she was disappointed when she didn’t get recruited, as she has been hearing about “The Bob” her whole life.
I used to participate in amateur long-distance radio reception (what we call DX'ing). The same year you were in Italy, 1998, I logged a particular radio station multiple times in May and June. The station called itself "Radio Baha'i." It broadcast out of Orangeburg, South Carolina, about 950 miles from where I lived in Kansas. I don't think I've heard a word about the faith since that year.
I can't think of any memorable travelers. But file this one under "future travelers." I found myself in Winnipeg, Manitoba for a day several years ago. I was walking back to where I had parked the car, and got stuck behind a slow-moving gaggle of children walking back to their school. The last two kids in the group, within earshot of me, were eagerly chatting about all the places in the United States they wanted to visit when they were grown up.
A friend and I did a bus tour of Austria a few years ago. At the end of the tour, the guide invited everyone to the local bar. We ended up sitting with several of people from the New York area who started to talk about 911. One couple saw the 2nd plane fly right over their building. Another couple lived very close to the Twin Towers and saw the whole thing.
I found myself stuck at an airport (all flights were delayed/cancelled) one wintery Thanksgiving travel weekend about 30 years ago. The gentleman who I ended up sharing rides and hotels with stands out in my memory.
At first I was frustrated that he kept showing up at every car rental counter and airport diner that I went to—him and his damn luggage locker. But after a few ridiculous experiences with hotel front desk people, truck drivers, and even some local police—we decided to pool our resources and try to get home together.
After a few twists and turns, we both made it home for Thanksgiving dinner—we both learned a few life lessons along the way. Most importantly I came to realize that things aren’t always what they appear to be and that relationships and family mean everything when it comes to the Holidays and the stress with travel
RIP Mr. JC aka Del G.
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