Stories

"Everyone's got their own tales."

You know that stereotype that old people like to drone on about their younger days without end? Sometimes they've actually got interesting stuff to say. I've been a lot more accepting of it as a result of my recent optometrist visit in San Diego. Turns out there is an optometrist's office right inside that glasses store next to Chipotle.

I was greeted by a lively old optometrist with huge eyebrows and we made the requisite small-talk as I looked through those huge lens-changers. He noticed that I was in good shape and asked me if I worked out. So we talked about that for a while, and it turns out that he did some amateur bodybuilding competitions in the 50's, had a powerlifting background and used to train with this man: Sergio Oliva, who was Arnold's immediate predecessor at the top of bodybuilding. He even whipped out a picture of the two of them together from the 60's posing in trunks. He told me about some of the ways they used to train, which are probably only interesting to me and Richard.

Next, when I told him I was Chinese, he asked if I knew the name Tang Lan Hwa. His pronounciation was pretty bad, but it was a familiar name. Tang Lang Hwa is a famous Chinese singer/actress along the lines of Teresa Teng and Faye Wong, definitely a name that your parents will recognize. Turns out that he saw her quite frequently because his wife, also Chinese, was one of her best friends. They met while Tang Lan Hwa was on tour and staying at a hotel. His wife was determined to meet her, so she went to the hotel, asked for her as if she was her friend and just went up to her room. Voila, BFFs.

Then he told me about living in Chicago, how San Diego was in earlier years, the crazy patients he had as an optometrist and his visits to China. I remarked that it sounded like he had had a pretty amazing and interesting life, but he replied with something that I thought was kind of profound, "Nah... Everyone's got their own tales."

We rarely realize the moments of greatest magnitude in our lives as they are happening, so I wonder... What will end up being my tales?

EDIT: One more thing 'Ol Jack said that really stayed with me... "To get what you want in this life, you gotta have balls."