A few years ago I discovered that
putting my thoughts in print made me feel really good. I admit that I enjoyed sharing them
with others (and fielding comments), but the purge effect I felt after doing so
was amazing! Unfortunately, I also discovered that if I don’t write them down
during the first few hours of the morning, my thoughts become so commingled with
the day’s events that they really don’t come out as intended. Hopefully the
summer will allow me a few mornings to clear my head. I can start today!
Hardly a day goes by that I don’t pat
myself on the back for choosing to live in a small town. I guess the true award goes to my
parents, but I have been free to
leave this “mean little Mayberry” for
more years that I would like to own up to this morning. I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t complain about
things like Friday’s traffic or a fifteen minute wait in the grocery store
line, but deep down I know it could be worse. This town is just large enough to
grant a small taste of anonymity, but it’s not too hard to make a connection
when I really need to. If you ask the right questions, everybody is always
somebody’s cousin that your brother’s ex-wife used to work with before Walmart
moved to its third location. We’re practically related!
Learning to use these connections has
been fun for me, but I recognize the all-to-familiar “why don’t you just shut up and pay the cashier” look my daughter
gives me when I talk to everyone in the checkout line at Kroger. I can only imagine how nervous she
was when the duty of taking her to the DMV for her driver’s license fell on the
shoulders of her long-winded father! Had she not been as nervous as she was, I’m
sure I would have been officially asked to “be
quiet…just this once”. Fat chance!
I feel sure that everyone reading
this has been to the DMV (now the DDS). Even in this little town, the wait can be long and the
employees are…serious? A tough crowd, even for Milledgeville! But anyone who
truly knows me can guess how it ended. Credit Taylor with knowing how to drive
well enough to get her license, but before we could get out of the building,
she got a hug and congratulations from the instructor, a written diagram of
what she needed to work on, complimentary key chain, and a visit from the clerk
that took our initial information! Okay, this clerk came back mainly to pick on
me, but the experience was one that we both will not forget.
It seems as though I have made this
all about me, and while that is one of my favorite topics, that was not my true
intention. I learned
a long time ago that I come with a long list of faults and a longer list of limitations.
But luckily I also learned that while I can’t be everything, I can at least be friendly
and nice. The treatment we received that day made a difference in our lives,
and I like to think that the treatment we gave them made a difference in theirs!
