guilty as charged

I was in Kenya a few months ago and I met a guy. Now before you go off jumping to conclusions not in that way. He was a chef at the hotel I was staying in Mombasa. He was a cheerful fellow, always smiling. He asked for my African name, I told him and he loved it, he asked if I had kids and I said I had a little boy and he smiled coz he has a little boy too. Everyday at mealtimes he would look for me and everyday I learnt something about kiSwahili culture through their food and his cheerfulness. Soon the whole kitchen staff knew me and they smiled at me and told me if my friend was off-duty. One said she loved my dreadlocks and another said she loved the gap between my front teeth. She said in Kenya it epitomized beauty. I had forgotten all about that, here at home I believe I have heard it being said at one point. On the last day before my departure, my friend gave me his email address, I was touched. I didn’t have my card with me at the time so I didn’t leave him anything. I am sad now coz I cant even remember his name, and I lost the little piece of paper with his email address. I lost that precious link to Kenya. I feel ashamed as well, because I think my subconscious deliberately let me forget him. My elitist mind, embarrassed to befriend kitchen staff, refused to be friends with this genuine warm person. Never mind the fact that it was a 5-star establishment, a tourist resort and he might have been a world acclaimed chef. He could have been I never let my myself find out. Shame on me, I really ought to kick this bourgeois mentality. I am writing this as I am sitting in the coffee spot of a hotel and I have taken time to observe the staff serving me. They are genuine people, brilliant even and I swear from now on I shall look beyond someone’s uniform!