For my second session at NALC, I met with a Nashville native. CH was a slow, soft-spoken African-American man who lived in the area and worked a third shift janitorial job. When I first sat down to talk with him, he was extremely tired, having skipped his afternoon sleep so that he could take his nephew to and from school. Though he spoke English well enough, in a thick, southern dialect, he came to NALC looking to learn how to read and write. We worked together on listening and discerning consonant sounds.
What interested me most about CH was that at first he was pretty shy, responding to my questions with short, three or four-sentence answers. But as soon as I asked him about his hobbies and how he spends his free time, he became an open book. He told me that he really enjoyed hunting and fishing and that he often took weekend trips with friends to hunt deer or turkey. Now, my dad picked up fishing on a serious level a few years ago, and so I got to know a little bit about it through him. When talking with CH, I reached into my memory and pulled out what little vocabulary and know-how I could remember. When I engaged him, he engaged me in an amusingly enthusiastic way.
At a certain point, CH began teaching me about different hunting techniques and different places for fishing. While he displayed his knowledge, I was reminded of our class lecture on how sub-cultures tend to have their own “glossaries.” Though I can’t remember any specific terms, I remember a lot of the rules and tips that CH shared. He told me never to approach deer in the wild; let them come to you. Though seemingly timid and weak, wild bucks are actually very strong and will charge if startled. He cautioned me by telling me of his friend who ignored this protocol and ended up seriously injured. CH also told me about fishing courtesy. When you fish at lakes such as Percy Priest, you are only allowed to keep a maximum of 30 fish, and those 30 must be a certain length. He said that public spaces are heavily patrolled, and will slap a hefty fine on anyone who breaks those rules. When I asked how he prepared his fish for eating, he said, “I make ‘em real good. But I can’t tell you how!”
I was amazed actually to see the shift in CH’s energy and attitude as he told me about his passions. Our conversation didn’t only take place in the beginning of the hour. We talked about different things throughout the entire session. I worried about sending CH off because he was so tired and only had about two hours to rest before he had to go in for work, but he didn’t mind - he had already planned his next hunting trip for the following weekend.
CH showed me that the more you invest in an interest, the more likely you develop a new language. He also showed me that your “job” doesn’t define you; as long as you are able to do what you love, even if you don’t get paid or recognized for it, then there’s where your happiness lies.
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