Awhile back, as I was walking toward my truck, at Brook’s General Store in Mount Hermon, I was stopped by a voice, shouting ‘Hey there’! I spun around, and didn’t recognize the smiling gentleman, who stood before me, at all. He looked to be in his late eighties, wearing dark blue overalls, a Circle T cap, and smelled like Old Spice. With a knowing look, he then said something that didn’t but probably should’ve, taken me aback.
‘You must be one of Wayne Guy’s boys’.
It only took a split second for me to reply, ‘Yes, Sir. I sure am.’
In his defense, I don’t usually don an evening gown and heels to purchase my gas and toilet paper. My hair was shorter back then, I wore no make up, and my stride (I’m sure) resembled that of Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke. Sorry, but I haven’t felt prissy since junior high. And even then, it didn’t do any good.
Instead of being offended, I felt rather honored; that he recognized some feature of my daddy... in me. And besides... what could’ve possibly been gained by correcting (and possibly embarrassing) that sweet fellow?
Often, we need to ‘feel’ and not ‘think’. We need to ‘accept’ and not ‘correct’. This doesn’t apply to all situations, of course. In some cases, we need to do the opposite. That’s why we have individual brains, and gut instincts. We all ‘know’ when we’re... as Mama would put it... ’showing our tails’.
There’s not one thing that could’ve been gained or accomplished by correcting that sweet fellow, other than the ill desire to ‘show my tail’. Personally, I’m not that proud of mine. And considering that the overall clad gentleman thought I was a man... neither was he.
We’ve all got plenty to worry about. No sense in sweating the small stuff. Lighten up, laugh, don’t show the tail, and find humor in being ‘one of the boys’. Even if you’re not one.
