Day to Day Interactions
Last time I was in my local post office, the Post Mistress rounded the corner and greeted me with “Hey! Are you the one they’re looking for?”
You would think that is not a good sign in a place that I always associate with having FBI “Most Wanted” posters pinned to the walls. (Do they still do that? It used to creep me out as a child.)
But in this case, I only laughed.
This is 29635, where we can’t even qualify for a traffic light at our only major intersection. We have one gas station/convenience store, two places to get the ‘Best Hot Dogs in Town,’ and a man that carves bears out of tree stumps. That also means the Post Mistress knows my face. When she asked if I was the one “they’re looking for”, I knew she was referring to the lottery. Turns out the neighboring county had sold a million dollar ticket last week and they were looking for the winner. Because I had made a joke two or three months ago about her not seeing me for a while because I planned to win the billion dollar jackpot, she was just checking! I love that not only did she recognize me, but she also recalled a simple conversation from last year. In this case, I told her ‘You have to buy a ticket to win!’
From the post office, I continued to our county trash site to drop off recyclables and trash.
The previous week when Jenni and I had dropped our trash, I got back in the car and remarked how refreshing it was to be greeted in such a friendly manner by a new employee. He had actually walked toward me while smiling and when I asked how he was doing he said, jovially, “Living the good life!” I actually believed him! Then, as we drove away, we saw another employee and I told Jenni “THAT is the person we saw at Wal-Mart last week but couldn’t remember how we knew them.” They were smiling in Wal-Mart and, turns out, that can give a person a totally different appearance!
I was glad to see the “new guy” still working a week later. When I got home, I told Jenni “Well, they haven’t broken him yet!” Good luck buddy, I’m rooting for you.
Later in the week I dropped off several copies of my book at the bookstore As The Page Turns in Travelers Rest. I told the owner how glad I was to get her message requesting more copies because my February Amazon sales had been pretty dismal so far. She agreed it was a tough month. So I’m asking my readers to support your local/closest independent bookstore wherever you live. These folks work so hard; throw some business their way if you can.
Sometimes I think that my week has been boring and I have nothing to write about. And then all I have to do is recall a few simple interactions to realize how full it has really been.
Go have a conversation with someone this week!