June 18, 2019. I was having the oil changed in the van in Strathmore, Alberta. Xian, my attendant, was keen and happy to share his perspective on the world.
Are you in love?
“I absolutely am, yup! I’m a little bit shy about that…”
Who has been the most influential person in your life?
“ Ah, that’s a tough one. Either my grandmother, or my aunt. My grandmother–I moved out when I was eleven, from my mother, and I lived with my grandmother for about five years, so they kinda raised me too. And my…they got me through school.
So, I was kind of a bad kid. I didn’t like to get into all that stuff, uhm, or my aunt–she kinda took me outta that, ‘cause I was skipping school. My grades weren’t great, anyway. She kinda put me back on my feet.
So, yeah. One of those two: my aunt or my grandmother. ‘Kind of a ‘momma’s boy,’ too.”
How do you feel about the future?
“Ooh, nervous. Everything changes.
So, there’s technology in the vehicles, technology in the computers and stuff, so, it’s definitely different. I’m not keepin’ up with either. I’m young and I’m not keepin’ up with it, so I can’t use computers very well. I don’t like even using our own system.
Uhm, it’ll be interesting because so much is changing. Trying to think of one right now for you but…can’t think of anything.
Let’s see: the future, well, I am nervous about moving. (He spoke about moving to B.C.) I won’t be able to see my sister or my grandmother. I won’t see my sister grow up, and I, uh, hopefully I’ll be there for my grandmother. It will be interesting. We’ll see how that goes. I went out there already and it was good, so, I’ve got high-hopes for the future, but I’m also nervous. Yeah.””