Stranger's kindness

Was it Blanche who said that she lived on the kindness of strangers? I have to look it up. Strange, I have never read a play by Tennessee Williams or even seen any movie adaptation. Well, a stranger wrote to me tonight, out of the kindness of his heart. He happened to run into an email of mine, saw the reference to the blog, and looked it up. He felt disturbed enough to write. He said that his English was not that good, but he discerned a crescendo of thoughts about frustrations and potential violence. He told me he had lived through violence and done a lot of things he was not proud of at all. He said that he was a soldier in the ARVN, killed and tortured quite a few VCs, ate their livers, and drank their blood. He got out of Vietnam in 1979 and almost died in the process. He ate somebody who died during the harrowing journey. He settled in Los Angeles, worked a lot of menial jobs, and studied in Community College. He finally got a decent job as a computer technician, met a Latina woman and was saved by love. He married her and had four kids with her. She didn't know about his past except that he was a soldier. He said, please find some love and peace, you seemed to be a fine man, but troubled. I was floored by his email. I cried. I didn't know what to say to the man. I just wrote back saying, I got your email, thanks for the advice, I will keep that in mind, you are very kind. I think I will be able to sleep tonight. Thank you, stranger. Before I pull the trigger on somebody, I will remember your advice. I sure will. I cannot make any promise that I cannot keep. I want to keep my options open.

One thing I have learned is that talk is cheap. Silence is golden, as they say. It takes a lot of fortitude to be silent despite provocation. I have got to wait, in silence, in seething silence, but silence nonetheless. It is stupid to tip my hand in advance. Threats or words of anger are actions of weak-willed people. I have to remember that. If I have to write to anybody, I wouldn't write in a moment of anger and agitation, otherwise I will have to keep on glancing over my shoulder since I don't really know what monster I just released into the streets of evil.