It's the little things

In preparation to make the trip to our daughter’s wedding in Hot Springs, AR my wife and I went to a local Triple A office. I find it is easier to speak to someone face-to-face and walk away feeling you have gotten all the answers needed than to try and decipher web page instructions. I get lost in the nuances of language and directions of web interactions. Besides that, I suffer the “gotcha” that often comes after I think I have been successful only to find out I actually missed something not so obvious in the fine print. And that usually costs me something.




What we needed was fairly simple. We needed to know the price of renting a car to drive from Memphis – Airtran closest terminal – to Hot Springs and back. It turned out to be not so simple a request but the person graciously helped us and we were able to make a decision based on his help. His understanding of our needs changed the way he approached the problem and he gave us valuable insights along with a workable solution including a promotional coupon. We were very pleased. It was worth the trip. It is pleasant to actually have someone help us.



While we were there the little girl we watch played happily with some brochures, stacking and spreading them out in turn. She was not able to get her hands to align the stack the way she sees us do – by holding them loosely and bouncing them against the tabletop, but she wanted to very badly. Her efforts to do so were hilarious. What was even more hilarious was her huffing “Aaahhh!!” of exasperation at each failed attempt. Such a “grown up” sound coming out of such a small person was too funny. After about fifteen minutes she crawled onto my wife’s lap and said “Mama Kim, bite me!”



The man helping us immediately stopped what he was doing and stared wide-eyed at her and my wife. He watched as my wife took the baby’s little arm and teasingly pretended to bite on it to tickle her. (Remember when you played with a child saying “I’m gonna eat you up”?) He seemed visible relieved. He sat back and laughed. Informing us that where he came from those were fighting words.



I was asked at work tonight if eating buggers was a good thing. Seriously, the argument was that they contained a concentrated dose of the very allergens (Pollen, dust, dander, etc.) that caused the problem that created them. Eating buggers, it was then argued, could strengthen your body’s immune response. After all, his wife told him she had just heard it explained that way on animal planet and one of his daughters had quickly tested the theory.



In all my reading, I have not come across that particular theory but my son-in-law will be thrilled to hear it.