Chance Encounter

Yesterday I met Ruby in front of the short order counter at Rincon Market.

She was dressed in a dark burgundy suit that contrasted with her dark skin and jet black hair, deep set and penetrating eyes. Our gaze met and for some unknown reason I could not look away.

I broke the silence with "There are so many choices, it makes it hard to know what to order!"

"Oh, I know what you mean."

It amazes me how small talk is the means of breaking down the unseen but very sturdy walls we each carry around with us. Our souls came scrambling out to meet each other.

We sat at my little table watching the short order cook prepare our meals.

"I just love this market," I remarked.

"Yes, me too," she said.

"Have you lived in Tucson long?" I inquired.

"Seventeen years! I moved here from my homeland of Pakistan," Ruby's explained, her dark eyes peering intently at me.

"Wow. I just read a wonderful book you might enjoy. It's written by a woman from what was Persia then...."

"Iran now!" interrupted Ruby leaning forward a little.

"Yes. It is a very funny book. It is called 'Funny in Farsi'...but it really is a serious book that shows how cultures can clash or be insensitive out of just plain ignorance!"

Why this book jumped into my thoughts is probably related to my own ignorance, just lumping everyone from the middle east into one group of people. But she did not seem perturbed by it, possessing that graciousness of people who have put up with it for years.

"Yes. You know when I was a young girl in Pakistan, we had what you call...oh I can't think of the word now...untouchables! Yes, untouchables. I was taught to never speak to them, that they belonged to another class. Then I fell in love with a man who was a Bahá'í. One day we were walking and he greeted them... the untouchables. I was horrified!

He stopped me and said, 'Ruby you know I am a Bahá'í and I believe in the oneness of all humankind. If that is a problem for you then let's stop this relationship right now.' That was the first time I really thought about this belief I held."

I found it rather miraculous to be talking so intimately with a woman I had just met. It seemed almost surreal how our few sentences connected us instantly on a profound vein of human behavior. But, I felt so glad about it.

"You know, I am so concerned right now about the violence around the world that is because of the same thing - lack of knowledge or even basic respect for others' beliefs," I shared.

"Yes. I was a speaker at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration here, and I told the story about my husband. Then I told them how my mother-in-law saw my revulsion at eating at the same table with untouchables invited to dinner with the family. I truly thought I would get some illness from eating on the same china! She saw that I was struggling and for a time served me on a different set of china just to help me through my struggle...so strong was my belief. It took a long time to change my reactions."

We were watching the young chef flip burgers and pat fish fillets sizzling on the grill. Shoppers passed us to pick fruit and vegetables from the mounds of produce in the little grocery section near our dining table.

Ruby went on enthusiastically. I was rapt with attention, amazed at our meeting....

"After I was married and accepted the Bahá'í faith, too, I was out shopping with my friends and greeted an untouchable. My friends pulled back from me and shouted, 'What are you doing!' I then did the same thing my husband did with me. I said 'You know I am a Bahá'í now, and I believe in the oneness of all humankind. If that is a problem for you, then let's end our friendship right now!' But of course it did not end."

She went on, "One person's conviction can bring about change. That's how it happens, just like Dr. King said."

"Susan, your order is ready," the loudspeaker announced.

We glanced at each other again. Two souls who encountered each other by chance.

Or was it?