Meeting Oleg

After a nap in the afternoon I decided to head out and treat myself some chips/crisp. At the crosswalk I saw an old man crossing the street in his own tempo with his walker.

It was clear that he was struggling to get across the street and by no means would be able to make it all the way across before the traffic lights would switch from red to green for the line of cars waiting in both directions.

I know that particular crosswalk and street pretty well as I walk that short route often. Therefore I anticipated that some of the drivers might be impatient and not prepared to wait until Oleg reached the sidewalk.

So I chose to walk beside him and slightly behind him to shield him from the traffic with my body. I don't worry about anybody running me down and they didn't. I didn't want to rush Oleg nor help him in a way where I did eased his walk. 

It may seem weird that I didn't provide him any physical assistance. This is purely intentional because I am fully aware that by doing exactly that I wouldn't really be helpful. It was evident to me that he was struggling, but not to the extent that he couldn't handle it. 

He just needed enough time and space to get across in his own way and in his own tempo. I sensed that he was struggling because he was rehabilitating. Me "helping" him physically would remove that opportunity for rehabilitation and in the long term that wouldn't be helpful at all.

He started talking and shared a whole bunch of amazing stories about how he met his wife Lana in Latvia and who dances ballet. How he has two beautiful kids and his son Arthur is graduating from high school on Wednesday. 

How his daughter Anna has been a volunteer in the Danish army, been to Canada riding horses in the Rocky Mountains and (as far as I recall) has a degree in Economics, just like Ole and just like myself. 

Ole also told me his is 82 years of age, about his time in the army and his time in Bruxelles, about Jelling and his current financial struggles. I asked him if he needed some money and he said yes. So I told him that I would head over and get some.

Unfortunately I couldn't use my card to get money in the grocery store. So I walked back to Ole and told him that I would find another way and asked him where he lives. He lives near by... like in 50 meters from where he was sitting and I was standing. 😂

It was evident that he wanted me to walk him home because he had turned a bit cold in his beautiful 60 year old green military jacket that looked absolutely amazing on him. He asked me to grab if he feel because he had turned a bit stiff. 

I knew he was going to be fine but stayed close to him and walk to his door. When we got to the door I took my key, put it into the lock, turned it and opened the door. Ole was surprised and asked "How is that possible? How can you open my door when I have the key hanging around my neck?". 

What Ole didn't know is that I live in one of same apartments as he does just a bit down the street. There are about 300 apartments owned by the pension fund for economists and lawyers. So my key works for the entrance door to his stairway as well, but obviously not to his apartment. 

He shared a bit more stories and I told him that I would head out to withdraw some money and return. And so I did. Headed home to grab my phone and bike to the local McDonald's at the local shopping center in Vanløse - Kronen.

My sim-cards are dead and I don't have internet at home so I decided to "exploit" the free WiFi at McDonald's. Before doing so I bought myself a ticket for the Eurojackpot. 

Afterwards I connected to the internet at McDonald's and transferred some funds between my accounts. While I was connected I decided to also download some music so I can listen to it offline. 

Right after I walked over to Nordea on Jernbane Allé and made a withdrawal of 5000 DKK as I had understood from the guidelines that this was my daily limit. I might have misunderstood the rules, but who cares.

I took the 5k and headed home to put them in an envelope and wrote a short note to Ole saying thank you for sharing your stories. I enjoyed listening to them and when I get to Jelling I will undoubtedly think about you. 

I also took one of the pieces of art I had recently bought at a local Danish Red Cross shop as a gift. Plus a cold beer from the fridge. Then I headed over to Ole and he insisted on sitting on the balcony.

When he sat down he started talking again and I just loved it. I told him that I wanted him to have this little piece of art and that it's a gift. I told him that it wasn't anything crazy, but just something I had bought at a Red Cross shop.

He loved that and then he read my message. My handwriting isn't always easy to read, so I helped him out a bit. Eventually he opened the envelope and his left hand found way to the money. 

When he took them out in the open and spread the bills with both hands like a fan or the feathers on a peacock he was speechless. I told him that there was 5000 and he instantly started crying and reached out to shake my hand.

I took his hand and with left the fingers of my left hand wrap around the biceps on his right arm and looked him straight in the eyes while saying "you deserve this my friend... you deserve it". 

He cried even more while stuttering, "yes, but Alan..." and couldn't say more. But any other words where unnecessary. It was just an amazing profound human connection between two souls. 

It was never about the money. The money wasn't even secondary or tertiary. It was just a bonus gesture. The cherry on top. The only reason to even mention it at all is because of the non attachment to the give away.

This is absolutely crucial and people sense it from a mile away. There is a huge difference between giving because you want something in return. Even if it's just a thank you. And giving 100% freely without ANY expectations to get literally anything in return. 

Shortly after his wifi Lana returned from ballet. I greeted her and after a short interaction I headed back home. Shortly after I decided to write this story because I felt like it. Without any expectations or hope that you may like me or praise me for what I did. 

I truly and honestly couldn't care less. You might ask why I wrote the story then because you are used to that there's always some goal with everything someone does. But this is not true. 

Some people transcend this and don't have any goals at all. They just... are. I am one of those. Who knows... maybe I won't even publish it. Maybe I will just leave it in my drafts. 

Right now publishing doesn't actually mean that you can read it on my blog. For some reason the domain I have tied to the blog doesn't work. I tried to fix it, but didn't succeed. 

Maybe I wasn't meant to succeed. Maybe the blogs are meant to be published without being published. That would fit my way of being perfectly. ☺️🙏