A Little Boost
I was away from the studio last Wednesday to travel to Des Moines for a speaking engagement and meetings with supporters of Iowa Almanac and the Iowa Business Report.
Meeting with folks was great, the audience for the luncheon talk was great…the traffic in Des Moines was awful…and that was the day our satellites decided to cause us trouble, adversely affecting your ability to listen to programs on KXEL. So to say it was an uneven day, a day of highs and lows, is a bit of an understatement.
I stopped at a convenience store near Holland just off of Highway 20 on the way home. It was nearing the dinner hour and I was more than ready to be home after 12 hours on the round. And I’m guessing my expression showed it…as you might have guessed, I’m not good at hiding my emotions.
As I got near the door to the store, a man who was ahead of me opened the door, and held it so I could pass by first…then saying with a smile, “nice night out, isn’t it?”
Which of course took me aback. He was right…it had been a 50 degree day, which you don’t see in Iowa in December that often. And he was attempting human contact, in a world where we are buried into our phones and such at all times.
Just a brief encounter, but it helped put the world and the day into a more proper perspective.
I then enjoyed being able to hold the door for him as we coincidentally left at the same time, and wished him a good evening…which made me feel better, as well.
Granted, something else came up, so the good mood was shot by the time I got home…but it was worth it at the time. And not a bad thing to remember as we come upon folks at this for-no-good-reason busy time of year.
