good evening. today is one of those days i appreciate living in hawaii and appreciate the aloha spirit of hawaii. i was swimming at ala moana park this afternoon. then i seen this guy with an underwater metal finder looking for rings and jewelry. so i swam out to him and asked him where he bought the metal detector. why? because i still miss my olympus camera and haven’t been sleeping well since i lost it in waikiki. i was looking all over for a metal detector rental but couldn’t find one. i told him my story and he told me, “let’s go find it”. what? yeah, he said he’ll go with me to waikiki and let me borrow his metal detector while he waits for me on the beach? what? he told me that he just wanted to do something good today. gosh, i was so happy…. so we jumped in my car and headed to waikiki….
i grabbed my fins, mask, metal detector and headed outside by canoes. i swam for a couple of hours looking my hardest. i was getting frustrated because there were so many waves and so many beginner surfers. it was pretty dangerous but i was trying so hard to find my precious camera. after getting run over about 5 times by longboarders, stand up paddlers, and the canoe, i decided it was time to go in. i didn’t find my camera today but i found something more meaningful. the ALOHA SPIRIT is still alive in hawaii. and it’s all because of hawaiians like this…
this is Trip. trip and i have a lot in common. we both like to watch “soko ga shiritai”, we both like japanese food, we both like japanese people, and we both speak japanese. trip was talking fluent japanese to me and i thought that was pretty cool. the only thing trip and i don’t have in common is that big puka shell necklace. i don’t have one like that. gosh, that’s the biggest and nicest puka shell necklace i’ve ever seen. and it’s not for sale…
although i didn’t find my camera today, i’m pretty much over it. i learned that there are other more important things in life. things like giving, sharing, and helping others. that’s the “ALOHA SPIRIT”. trip let me, a total stranger, borrow his $1200 metal detector. i offered him some money for helping me but he refused to take it. he did it from the heart. there aren’t too many people like that out there these days. there was a reason why i met trip today. i think it’s a sign telling me to be a better person and to help others. something i will do for the rest of my life to keep the “ALOHA SPIRIT ALIVE’…..
i gave trip a go-naminori sticker. so if your reading this trip, mahalo for today. your one good hawaiian. and next time i catch fish, i’ll give you a call….
