i bet that he was a stand-up comedian in his day. Or maybe just the class clown. His eyes were blue and they had that aged but still spunky sparkle to them that makes a wonderful grandfather.

He came up to me as i descended from my bright yellow ladder and after flashing him a smile i asked him,
"Can i help you?"

He looked me straight in the eye and replied,
"From that smile, you look like someone who can take a good joke."

i was unsure of what to say so i laughed and smiled yet again,
"i like to think so."

He went on to talk to me for five minutes about nothing at all:
"Try not to shake your hair while I'm around, it makes me feel bad- you see I'm bald! *lifts weathered blue baseball cap*"
You see, I have one 19 year old son at home and a wife who's 54. I'm 74.... yes 74."
She always asks, when are you going to grow up? and I tell her, when they put me in the box, honey."

All of this he shared with me as I rested on my ladder. For no reason at all.

"You have a good day," he ended it with, "and don't work too hard."

i couldn't help it... i smiled again.
"Thank you very much sir, and i won't."

It wasn't but another ten minutes that passed before the same genuine man stopped my way again. He caught me on the top stair of the ladder this time. i was putting a small brown box back up.

"Listen to my little bit of advice, honey," he said to me while grasping my forearm to help me down the last two steps. Then, making sure he had my full attention, he continued, "If anyone harasses you in this store you just call 257-9572, and I'll come kick his butt."

"257-9572, thank you," were the only words i could evoke to let this man know how much he had made my day.

"Call that number and I'll be here in ten minutes."

smiles, smiles,
"Thank you very much, sir. You have a wonderful day."

He didn't need any help finding anything. He didn't need any assistance at all. This man simply made my day by talking to me. because that doesn't often happen at my job.