Bitcoin’s Johnny Appleseed
Although five riders had arrived in the small mountain top oasis of Berlin, only four of us were up to the flora and fauna walking tour. The group’s leader, Alan Jackson, had assembled a random bunch of international riders/bitcoiners to make up The Freedom Tour, a 9 day cross-country ride all over El Salvador from the saddles of giant BMW bikes.
This group had two Californians: Alan and myself, there was a mild-mannered Texan, a gentle giant German, and a chain-smoking French woman who hated quiet and had no trouble filling the silence with spirited conversation and opinions.
The hike promised to be an educational one and surprisingly everyone in our group (except me) spoke excellent Spanish, but Alan was the only one that spoke fluent Bitcoin as well. Alan Jackson has the gift of orange-pilling and he loves to talk to anyone and everyone, especially those who don’t know what the hell a bitcoin is.
I’ve seen Alan work his conversational magic with the uninitiated, even in the first moments when we met. I was in Taipei waiting for a connecting flight to Chang Mai. Alan shook my hand and about 30 seconds later a young lady took a chair to his left and boom! He began a delightful Bitcoin dialogue with this stranger. I would witness interactions like these hundreds of times more during our friendship. I’ve seen him do the impossible. When our group wagered he wouldn’t be able to buy a beer in a small Thai bar, Alan quickly found a random bar customer to accept Bitcoin for a round of beers. Alan had the beers, and won the bet, in ten minutes.
Alan just has a familiar way about him. A handsome face and an easy-going manner that you would expect from a commercial pilot, his day job. He also has a trademark kneel position that he takes with whoever he’s talking to, never imposing his tall stature over them. Alan talks as if he just heard wonderful news and is eager to spread it around.
On the day of the group hike, however, we all pitched in.
Our group took a break on our jungle path and suddenly we saw two young boys coming down the same path, both with weighty sacks over their shoulders. They live here at the base of the volcano among the one-room cinder block houses with rusty tin roofs, feral dogs, and crowing roosters behind wire fences.
Jose (16) and Alexis (15) tell us they just harvested a couple of bags of mandarinas and do not hesitate to hand one to each of us. Before we are done peeling the fruits Alan asks the boys “Han escuchado de bitcoin?” “No.” say the boys, and the conversation begins.
Alan: “Do you have a phone?”
Alexis: “Yes, but there is no wifi here.”
The German: “Use my hotspot.”
Success!
Alan: “Now download an app called Blink.”
Alexis tries, then says: “My phone is too filled up with other apps, no room.”
The French woman: “Give me your phone!”
The French woman playfully interrogates Alexis about the importance of the apps on his phone “Why do you need ‘Flappy Spiders’?” rolling her eyes. “What’s ‘Crack My Screen’? A prank app? That’s gone.”
15 minutes later Alexis had the Blink app on his phone and a tutorial from Alan on how to use it. For my role, I always swoop in when we are saying our goodbyes and throw some sats on the newly created wallet.
Lastly, Alan never leaves a successful orange-pilling without taking a selfie with his new friend and exchanging phone numbers – and Alan calls, and gets calls from his new friends often. On this trip his new friends include hoteliers, resort managers, a pupusas teacher, Miss Tourism for a departamento, and multiple waiters and service workers.
We all know the world needs Bitcoin, I think the world needs more people like Alan too.
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