Father's Day Happenings

I worked today, and it was just me and my boss. We were pretty slammed. I have done this for a long time, so prioritizing tasks and coordinating my efforts with her is fairly easy for me. I managed to get pretty much everything done that I planned to and then some, so I was pleased. The day went very smoothly--for me.

My boss has a lot of fans. She has customers who will drive from neighboring towns to do business with her instead of doing it in their own city. One young lady told me today that she just likes to do that so that she can chat with her.

This Father's Day morning, a long-time customer returned some chairs he had rented yesterday for his daughter's 13th birthday party. During the party, he and his wife's
had received word that his father-in-law had died. He was 62. The gentleman was really hurting. He talked with us for a while about it, and he cried a little bit now and then. His memory of Father's Day would be forever changed.

As the day progressed I heard snippets of conversations between people and the boss about the special nature of the day, and it was quite pleasant to hear. Sure, a lot of what was said was by way of platitude, but generally speaking people had good things to say.

In the afternoon, a man came in to rent a lawn mower. When he came back, he asked me if he could go back to the office to speak with the boss. He's also a long-time customer. I said "Sure," and he walked back. As it turned out, I had totally missed the fact that when he had originally entered the parking lot to pick the mower up, a lady had dead-stopped in front of him. He was concerned that she was going to back up for a moment, so he had tapped his horn to let her know he was there.

Unfortunately she had taken it the wrong way, and upon entering the building, she had chewed him up and spit him out. As he approached the boss, his first words to her were that he needed to apologize for causing any problems. He adores my boss, and she told him that he owed her nothing, and that she knew what kind of man he was.

You see, he used to be different, before he came to know Jesus. Had he gotten chewed out that way before he had been saved, he would have reacted very differently. He has a beard, and body piercings and he kind of looks like a biker dude. You mightn't think he would have a heart as soft as his is, but he is very kind.

Before he was done apologizing for what he thought that he had caused, he was crying too, and my boss was up and out of her chair with her arms around him. She assured him that she had told the woman after he left that he was a nice man and that he had no intentions of treating her badly. For someone to be so concerned about the affect that their actions might have on other people is telling, and touching.

This is a Father's Day I am not likely to forget.