Stop talkin' 'bout my wife!!!

I currently live in a small town in New Brunswick. It is a nice place, and has its charm, but there are some real characters around here. I think of Garnet, whose IQ is likely around 60. He hangs out at the downtown Tim Hortons (that's right, we have two) and he lives in a group home for the mentally disadvantaged. He doesn't know my name, but everytime he sees me he comes over and asks where my wheels are. This relates back to a time when I stopped to let him cross the street, and he walked over to my car to thank me and say hi. Traffic came to a standstill as he told me I better shave off my beard because Cathy hates beards.
You may be thinking "this post is kinda weird. Doesn't seem consistent with what Jake is normally doing with his blog." Well, sure, but Garnet is abnormal, so a post about him should be abnormal. You see, his reference to Cathy makes sense to him, because Cathy is the lady who comes in and shaves the faces of anyone who needs it at the group home. So he associates her activity of removing beards with her having a distaste for facial hair. Maybe she loves beards more than anyone, but has to shave them for the guys who can't really shave their own. I guess I can understand that. But what gets me is that he has the exact same thing to say to me everytime he sees me. It never changes. It never developes. I think this speaks to me that Garnet has a very simple, ordered life that never alters in any significant way. He probably couldn't handle it if it did. I feel a small modicum of envy, in that this is a man who is never surprised by anything overly negative, but then I realize that he is never amazed by anything wonderful either. It seems to me that this simple little town, this simple little life still catches me off guard sometimes. I find myself challenged and encouraged in unexpected ways. I came to live and work here with an idea that I knew what to expect, and I am regularly surprised, in positive and negative ways, quite often. Perhaps it is because I still leave room in my life for growth. This is to say that as a person I have some of the faculties necessary to accept challenges and overcome them, if I am open. While I occassionally resent change, and the effort required to live this life, I am glad that this whole journey isn't over after just one or two adventures. There is a lot I can learn from guys like Garnet, if I am willing to take the time to see the opportunity, and take hold of it. Surely one day I will leave this town, heck one day I will leave this whole life, and when I do I hope I have learned all I could, and grown in as many ways as are made available to me. In the meantime, here I will stay.