Surprisingly, I don’t remember the first time I met him. He just always showed up at the coffee shop, telling stories about seemingly crazy adventures while riding the rails. I often wondered if he was full of shit, but the fact that I possibly knew an actual hobo was way more interesting than trying to cipher through exaggerations. And frankly, even if he made it all up, he was so captivating it didn’t really matter.
Captivating, definitely, at times to the point where I almost felt captive. The man’s attitude and energy were aggravating to me at certain points in my life, when I wasn’t healthy.
INVITE PEOPLE INTO YOUR LIFE
I think I was jealous that someone knew how to live so large. And large wasn’t about things, it was about ideas and experiences. The mayoral runs weren’t about winning. They were about doing what he thought was right. They were about getting people involved and communicating. Janoct was so good at bringing people into his realm.
WORK HARD & MAKE THINGS RIGHT
I remember a Sunday in August, back in 2010, that terribly hot summer. I’d been griping to the slumlord, bless his soul, about getting the trees trimmed. They hanged awkwardly into my yard and were taking over his. They were growing into the house. You read that right.
I was getting ready to go to a Dylan concert in Lincoln and as I walked out into my backyard, who did I see all rigged up in the slumlord’s trees? Janoct, of course. The man could work like a horse. There he was, in his 60s, the tree probably had a couple decades on him, a hundred degrees outside and he’s yelling, “Hey girl!” without missing a beat.
One of the larger branches he was trimming fell and took a little notch off one of my fence pickets. It really wasn’t a big deal, but he apologized and said he’d make it right. He replaced the picket within the week.
DO THE UNEXPECTED
Janoct was a fixture downtown, stopping in at the local shops and events. Back in September of this year, I was involved in a recovery-themed art show. Since my medium of artistic expression is cake, I designed and caked a special cake for the show.
We hadn’t run into each other in awhile, so I was pretty excited to see him and experience that energy he brought everywhere. There’s a great picture of us taken that night.
I pointed out my cake and he said, "Girl, you can't bring a cake and not expect a Black man to eat it."
I told him to go ahead and have some. I figured we'd eat the cake at some point during the show anyway. He marched right over to it and cut a big hunk out. Some of the attendees were worried that I would be upset, like he’d defaced the cake or something. It was pretty awesome. He grabbed the hunk of cake and brought it over to Haskett’s for our friends to enjoy. Leave it to Janoct to turn my cake into performance art.
KNOW WHEN TO BE QUIET
I remember sitting by the window at the coffee shop one day, just wanting to not be bothered. Because someone who doesn’t want to be bothered would naturally go to the coffee shop where she knows 90% of the patrons. I did the “My ear buds are in and I’m obviously working on homework, so move along” set up at my table, thinking that would kindly move people along.
I had recently been through a strange break-up and the details of said break-up were still spilling through the community, as they often do. Of course, several people stopped to say something… who they were or what they said escapes me now, but what I do remember was Janoct walking over to my table with that, “Hey girl” look on his face and he just kissed the top of my head and walked away.
At that moment, I was thinking, “What the hell?” Still being hurt and unhealthy myself, I was slightly offended by his gesture. I was such a ball of anger at that point in my life. I just sat there and fumed a bit, pissed off at anything and anyone.
I thought of that moment today and I bawled. Janoct, one of the most talkative people I’ve ever met, showed me kindness in the most gentle way, with a kiss on the top of my head. He knew I was hurting, shit, the whole town knew I was hurting and instead of trying to get details from me or offer advice, he simply let me know he cared.
Cycling Newsman said, ”Janoct talked to everybody. There were times when it seemed that life was just one long conversation to him, just bouncing from person to person as they passed in and out of his sphere.”
For those of us fortunate enough to stay in the sphere awhile, we’ll be telling his stories and missing his smile. No matter how you knew him—Candidate, Christian, Hobo, Storyteller, Friend, you won’t forget him. And if you didn’t know him, stop by Black Sheep or M.B. Haskett and I’m sure someone will fill you in…
RIP Janoct Ajda 1949-2013, Earth
