I have been extremely blessed with a great 2010, especially after how 2009 ended up for me. I have been living life one day at a time with very little "far in the distant" planning and it has been wonderful. My days seem to be more productive now and Life has thrown very little my way that wasn't easily handled. So, in one of those just when you think NOTHING could go wrong moments, our pick-up's tranmission went out. No warning earlier that morning; no other symptoms that would suggest this was coming. So, you could say I was taken completely by surprise. I was leaving my parking garage downtown to go meet my buddy Jeff for lunch out by his office. Jeff has a knack for knowing where all the good eating establishments in town are, at least down by where he works. He once told me he would take me places; little did I know that meant going to prison, but I digress...The Darden Family Truckster was slightly acting up on the way to lunch and by the time I got there it was almost completely not responding (CODE BLUE!! CODE BLUE!!). Well, I figured, heck, I was already there, God is in control, and I was hungry. After a hearty lunch of Seafood Gumbo and Boudin Balls (don't ask, and NO they aren't like Rocky Mountain Oysters), Jeff and I parted and I commenced to see what I could do to get the truck to my dealership. Well, it didn't even go in reverse, drive or neutral. I was certainly in a pickle. But alas, all my Eight Ball Rambling fans, I had roadside assistance coverage on my car insurance and promptly called them. The man on the other end of the line assured me he would have a tow truck out to me, but it would be an hour. One hour?? No sweat. Besides, I could just go back into Boudreaux Cajun Restaurant and wait for the truck. One hour stretched into an hour and a half and then two hours. I made a few calls back to the roadside assistance folks (the latter one being a little harsh from my end, but I figured they deserved it. Only later did I feel bad about my response to this guy). At the two and a half hour mark, my tow arrives. I am not a happy camper by now. You can only do so many Cajun Conga-Lines in one day and I had reached my limit. The tow dude was a young man in his early 30's I found out later was from Moracco and after a few minutes he had my pick-up on the truck and secured and we took off for the Ford dealership, where I had purchased the pick-up.
This young Moraccan man was in his early 30's and seemed pretty anxious as we headed toward the Ford dealership. He asked me many questions about my work, if I was married, what I did for recreation, etc... your garden variety small talk. Then he started in on himself, how fit he was, how he worked out,how he loved to sweat (we had that in common), his current girlfriend, what roles women play in this world, and that if a man wanted to "stray" from his relationship, he had the right to, and that he had been with three different women that past week, and so on and so forth. As all this was going on I knew in my heart I needed to be very careful in how I responded. Without even taking a breath he went rambling on how he liked he job somedays and somedays he hated it, especially whan he had to deal with old people. The really sad thing is that he knew what he wanted in life, had acheived some of it, but was totally miserable and didn't know it. As long as he could do whatever he wanted and no one messed with his lifestyle, he was ok. To make matters a lot worse, halfway to the dealership, we came upon a wreck that had shut the freeway down to a dead stop. My day was getting VERY long, if you know what I mean. We finally pull into the dealership and the tow dude goes and deposits my pick-up in the back of the dealership and comes back around to give me my keys. I wished him luck and said bye and went in to set up my repairs without having tried to tell him he was headed down a slippery slope towards a crash and burn. As he drove off I felt like I failed him. I also realized during all his talk I was so amazed how he didn't show any respect towards life, women, or the law.I was literally speechless. If I knew anything, it was that he will meet his end sooner if he didn't slow down and get a better outlook on life. Maybe someone else could save him. After having spent the last 4 hours just getting to the dealership, I was so put out I figured he deserves what he gets. Nice attitude, huh?
After I had arranged with the dealership to work on my car, I was told by the Service Advisor that in order to arrange a rent car for me they would have to determine if the problem was under warranty and that should be the next day and he would call me. So, he called a young man that drove the shuttle to come take me home.
This young black man, also in his early 30's, came driving up in the shuttle, I hopped in and we head for home. He stuck out his hand, introduced himself and we shook hands and started chatting. I asked him how long he had driven the shuttle for the dealership and after he answered he told me that he also was a valet for a very high end night club in Houston and worked alot of long days but loved the work, besides he had a family to support. We got to talking about wives and how we have to treat them and I was amazed how this young man approached life and what it took to get by. He loved his wife dearly and would do anything to please her. Wow, what a switch from earlier in the day. He said in his other job he would always deal with celebrities from baseball players, football players, basketball players, the music world, but it never fazed him about their celebrity. He knew deep down they were just like everybody else, and so that's how he treated them. We arrived at my house and I wished him well, just as I had done earlier to the Moraccan man. What a difference a culture and an upbringing makes...
The LMD (Lovely Mrs. Darden) and I decided to celebrate the weekend by dining at one of North Houston's fine family-oriented eating establishments after work Friday. We were seated promptly and took just a few minutes to order and sat and waited for our food. We were in no rush and sat there and talked. The restaurant was filling up fast and I remarked how lucky we were to get in when we did. I looked around, as I always do, to see the other diners. A young couple with a cute little boy playing with his menu, although clearly too young to read; a single parent with an child who was pretty fidgety, a young mother with a restless infant and the infant's grandmother, and the hostess brought in an older couple and showed them to a table the busser was just finishing bussing. The woman who was being seated started ragging this Hispanic busser in some sort of slang Spanish because apprently the table wasn't cleaned to her liking, although it was clear that the busser hadn't yet completed his task when the hostess brought them up. The older couple sat down. She sat there with a scowl on her face while she looked around the restaurant, never smiling at all while she talked with whom I assumed was her husband. She was a woman who obviously had seen better days, (poor man, although he must have loved her at some point many years earlier). Over in the booth across from Ms Congeniality and Mr. Keep My Thoughts to My Self, the young mom with the restless infant was trying to console him and stop his crying. Pacifiers didn't work, bottle didn't work and this poor little boy was not happy at all. The crying continued. Although the crying wasn't that loud, it drew hard stares and some unsolicited comments from Ms Happy Pants. The young mother, clearly offended, climbed out of her booth with a now happy baby and approached Ms Bug-Up-My-Butt and let her know how the cow ate the cabbage ( Ok, all you young folk, feel free to Google the cabbage reference) after what seemed like, oh, a couple of minutes arguing back and forth, the young mom sat down with her baby and Ms You-Can't-Talk-To-Me-Like-That got up from her table and headed for the manager leaving our ol buddy sitting there wallowing in the echos of their cat fight. The manager moved the older couple to another table in another room; the problem solved. We finshed our meal, paid and left having felt lucky to get dinner AND entertainment.
In a span of a couple of days I had met or came in contact with three extremely different people, all from different backgrounds, cultures, life experiences and they all left a mark on my life as I had for some reason been placed in their paths, or they in mine. Two were young and extremely happy with their lives; one older and not happy with life at all. Two headed for destruction if their lives didn't change, one going down the right path and heading for a long life of happiness. A young Moraccan man, a young black man, and a older women. I mention their nationality, color, or age for no other reason than to say that their culture or upbringing is the fabric of who they are. In a country other the good ole USA, the culture and where women stand in that culture is completely different or at least his lifestyle was witness to that. In our country where more and more young black men turn to drugs and crime or at least blamed for the majority of crime, one black man chose to go against the average and become a honorable, family oriented man who loved his wife as much as he loved his next breath. And the woman. How did she become so angry? What life experiences did she have that made her hate people or life? I wonder if she had ever smiled or hugged somebody or spoke softly to a loved one.
What is the fabric of who you are? Did past life experiences shape you into who you are today or were you able to break free from a horrible past? What path are you heading down?
Life gives these three people lemons....which one do you think makes the lemonade?
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