life goes in circles...
i just got back from shopping at lowe's with my dad...
we were picking up a pretty big piece of ply-wood for me to make a paddle with for one of ryan's fraternity brothers (yeah, i know...).
so while we were walking down one of the aisles we tried to pass a rather tall, round gentleman who kindly stepped out of the way for us.
as i passed him, i smiled and said 'thank you'.
i guess i was in a pretty good mood considering i'm coming down with what appears to be the flu...and i've also had pretty great parents who continue to teach me to be polite.
we began to walk away when we heard from behind us...
'you know, it is so nice to hear thank you'...
i spun around to look the man in the face.
he seemed flustered, and kind of embarrassed.
'people just don't say it anymore...you just don't hear thank you,' he continued.
i smiled sheepishly...and stammered out another 'thank you'.
my dad giggled as we turned around...
i didn't know what else to say.
the man was from way out here in the country (tomball, texas...it's really not that country)...
he had his gym shorts pulled way up with his shirt tucked in over his large tummy...
he had a thick accent and seemed like the kinda guy that only grunts in conversation...
and yet he was kind.
he was thankful.
he made my day.
posted by juli @ 5:03 PM
2 Comments:
Reminds me of something I hadn't though of for a long time. When I was young (Don't you love it when folks start a story with that line?!) I would go to places with my Mom or Dad. At the bank Dad would be done with whatever grownups did at the bank back then and the teller, no matter what age they were, said. Thank you Mr. Neumann. At the store, my Mom was greeted with Mrs. Neumann.
I was always looking forward to the time when I would be addressed as such. I thought it was a loooong time away. Well, this week I turned 40 yrs. old and it is very rare to hear someone call me Mr. Neumann. Bank tellers, phone callers, anyone with access to my full name have been taught to call customers by thier first names. This bugs me. I have no problem calling folks with a respectful and proper name esp. for people I do not know personally.
Where did civility go? When did I miss this?
where did john neumann go? i'd like to have him back around...come back and see us sometime mr. neumann.
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