A Simple Request

I was in the small town of Suwa on Sunday, and had lunch with friends at a cafe owned by an Iranian man. The coffee was good and the chicken curry with flat bread was excellent. We lingered over our coffees, visiting and occasionally chatting with the owner who of course asked where we were from because that’s just what you do here when you see other non-Japanese. Three of us are from America, one is Canadian. When it came time to leave, we each paid individually and I was the last to pay. As he said goodbye, the owner added — quietly and with a pleasant smile on his face — “Please kill Saddam Hussein.” It was so unexpected I wanted to double-check to see if I’d heard correctly. But it really wasn’t something I wanted to hear again, so I just smiled, waved and left. I’m still wondering if it’s what he actually said or something I imagined.