Aloha Spirit

As I found a mint parking spot in Chinatown this evening, it was a very tight spot between a brand new Lexus and a Toyota (it's Chinatown man), a very pleasant female Chinese barber came out to guide me into the spot. I thought she was coming out to tell me not to park, so I glanced at the sign to make sure and asked, "it's okay to park here, yeah?" You see, here in Hawaii the word "yeah" is used very frequently, and mostly at the end of sentences as if asking a question. She said in reply "yeah yeah" then proceeded to wave me back with comb in hand to assist my park job.

Upon leaving Chinatown at night, a much different place might I add, many "chronics" and "lo lo's" a.k.a. homeless and mentally ill individuals, roam the streets. As I am trying to pull out of aforementioned tight spot, still with Lexus behind and Toyota in front, a local lo lo pushes his shopping cart to the side and directs me to back up and yells for me to cut the wheel as appropriate. Needless to say his direction was spot on, despite any substances he may have ingested, and I was able to maneuver out of the spot unscathed. I threw him the shaka and yelled "thanks brah" (another local term short for braddah) and he replied, "No problem girl," and threw the shaka back to me.

That my friends, is Aloha Spirit.

One Love,
MJ