Short Timer

On the sleeper bus from Nha Trang back to Saigon, my dad confirmed that the small villages he knew of Cam Ranh and the old "Dodge City" have been destroyed. "If the VC didn't destroy them, typhoons did," my dad said.

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Yesterday, at the cafe we've been going to, I told my dad I think I've seen enough of Vietnam. "And you've only been here what, 11 days? Try 365," he said, swigging his beer. Then he leaned back in his chair. "Look, don't worry about it. You've got two days and a wake up. You're a short timer. You're going back into the world."

He explained that back in the day, guys would yell out "Short!" to indicate they only had a few days left before going home. "You'd yell out five! And the other guy would yell out three! Or you'd yell out three! And the other guy wouldn't say nothing. It was kinda like, 'Stuff it up your ass,' if you had less time."