Three Men

Earlier
I was walking on the street in Kraków

Ahead of me
two men

One was, Polish man
He was talking in Polish on his phone

The other was, Arabic man
His wife with a hijab was next to him. They were obviously tourist

---

Polish man
Arabic man
& Me

Or

European man
Middle Eastern man
& Asian man

Or simply

Man
Man
& Man

---

They both had

Beard
Short hair
Thick chest
Muscular arms
And zero accessories

Wearing
Simple T-shirt
Simple short
Simple flip-flops

---

Small girl next to the Polish man
This European man has a daughter

Small boy in the arm of the woman with a hijab
This Middle Eastern man has a son

---

I was thinking;

"..........These two men must think I'm younger than them. Probably much younger. Perhaps I'm still a uni student. Some Polish people 'amazingly' guess I'm still going to college......."

"...........But the truth of the matter is, I'm probably the same age as you guys. Perhaps, likely, I'm older than both of you"

"Age...........perhaps it's just a number. But age is certainly tightly connected to the role we have to play in the society. And in life..........."

---

Subconsciously
I was seeing the situation
from the bird's-eye view

And secretly
I smiled in my mind

To my eyes
the contrast between them & me was too dazzling

Among the three men
I was probably the oldest

Oldest
Yet still walking in a foreign city at 2pm

Oldest
Yet still I don't have a wife
Yet still I don't have a child

Oldest
Yet still wearing clothes & accessories, like a university student, or just a buffoon/clown

---

I passed them

I still smiled in my mind

But this smile was no longer the same as my initial smile

Among the three men,

I was the only one
who could recognise our actual age gap

I was the only one
who could recognise how ridiculous my current life is for my age

And I was relieved
they could not know my age