It’s Deja Vu All Over Again

3 or 4 years ago my neighbor and I were looking for someone to do some farm work. We had a Craigslist ad posted and we got a phone call from a kid who was working as a waiter on the inter-island cruise ship. He had decided it was not what he wanted to be doing and left the ship when it was docked in Kona.

Not knowing anyone here nor having any place to stay, he slept outdoors that first night. I went into town and met him on Thursday and he was ready and able to do the job we needed. He mentioned that he could get a tent and sleep on the farm, but we had a better solution. There was a cottage (a tiny house of sorts) and he stayed there. So within a day, he had a job and a place to stay.

As the months went on, he became a bit restless, as teenagers do and he went on to take a couple jobs here on island and then on to Oahu. Finally he moved back to the mainland. He took some programming classes and all of a sudden ended up on Oahu again.

So Thursday evening I get a text message that he is on his way to the mainland for an extended trip, but is stuck at our airport. Seems he had a flight from Honolulu to Kona to the mainland and missed a connection. That meant stuck in Kona for the night. I was unable to drive up to the airport that night but met him in the morning for breakfast. Since he had a 9:40pm flight, we did a bit of driving around while I picked up some supplies. He met a friend on a jobsite and made some programming contacts at a local farm. Then I took him to the farm where he lived before and he was able to shower. I heated up some chili and we headed down to Two Step to the Friday night pot luck. There he visited with many people he knew when he was here 2 years ago.

At dusk I drove him back to the airport and as I write this, he is back in California.

The deja vu part of this story is that while we were driving from the airport and doing that shopping, he mentioned that he had a job prospect on the mainland but was not sure if and when it would start. I took him by the limo company here and they were ready to him him for a couple week project where they are short drivers.

Twice now he has visited this island unexpectedly, and twice, within 24 hours he has found a job and friends.

I guess it can’t be all that bad living the the middle of the Pacific after all, is it?