On one of my few nights in Chiang Mai, in northern
Thailand, I walked the small city’s streets at a rather brisk pace
focused on making quick work of the twenty minute walk to my intended
dinner destination for the evening. Making my best effort to avoid the
pestering touts along the way, I perfected weaving in and out of the
other people lining the streets and sidewalks in my pursuit of a little
sustenance.
About halfway into my
speedy stroll, I came upon a group of three men coming the other
direction who took up most of the width of the sidewalk. I caught the
eyes of one of the men, but the stare didn’t seem to indicate a
willingness to move so as to make a little room for me to pass by.
Then, I noticed a lamp post about halfway between us and decided to use
it to veer around them as we all passed by it. As expected, once we all
reached the lamppost, they veered to their right and I stepped in the
direction of mine allowing me to successfully clear them and continue
on my path. But, as I curled around the lamp post and prepared to step
back into the middle of the sidewalk, I reared back in shock when I
nearly ran into…an elephant.
In the dimly lit street and my narrowly
focused attention, I’d somehow managed to fail to see the substantial
pachyderm trailing directly behind the three men. More
than a little taken off guard, I jumped back about two feet and right
back into the same lamp post. Despite a now aching back, all I could
manage to do was stand and stare in bewilderment at the baby elephant
now passing me by. Transfixed, I just stood and stared at the elephant
meandering down the narrow strip of bars and restaurants accompanied by
the three men who were oblivious to the fact that I’d nearly stumbled
into their seemingly prized possession. But, I’m sure it would’ve been
of minimal concern to them because, while taller than the baby elephant
by a foot, it outweighed me by at least a good half ton and it would be safe to assume that I surely would’ve lost that battle.
I
nearly forgot my hunger pains as I kept watching the elephant amble out
of sight down the other end of the road. I finally continued on towards
my dinner destination, but at a slightly slower pace and with my eyes
scanning every inch of the sidewalk and street should I happen upon one
of the elephant’s relatives. Over dinner, I tried to come up with
a reason why three men would be walking a baby elephant down the middle
of a busy street. I couldn't come up with a scenario that made sense to me, but perhaps it's just enough to consider it a very in-your-face (literally) exposure to the nuances of being in a different country and culture. Ultimately, however, I decided that I was grateful for a well placed
lamp post that created just enough space to remain a step shy of
running right into the lumbering elephant. That step proved to be the
difference between being able to eat dinner that evening and possibly being dinner for a half ton pachyderm.
