reflections of gratitude
I have another story.
This Saturday, I was working my regular shift as a volunteer for the hospital. So there I was sitting behind the lobby desk, reading some stupid celebrity tabloid and feeling my brain cells die one by one, when this elderly man comes up to the desk. I look up, give him a smile and say the standard greeting ("Hi! Can I help you?"). He just looks down at the magazine I was reading, smiles and this is the conversation that ensues:
Him: You're a reader, right/ You like to read?
Me: [not sure where this was going] Uh. Yes, of course.
Him: I'm an author. I just got my book published.
Me: [overwhelmed with shock. I did not expect that.] Oh, well, good for you!
Him: Want my card? [And without waiting for my response, which was "Sure!", he fumbles around and pulls out his card.]
Me: Thank you.
Him: Thank you. [and wanders off]
I stare at the card and it reads Reflections of Gratitude: An Inspirational Love Story by David M. Seymon along with contact information. I start to chuckly softly and the girl working with me looks at me weird. She hadn't heard the conversation; she had been doing homework. I get up and head over to the gift shop to see my friend because I'm just bursting to tell someone what had just taken place.
"OMG he must be on crack. That's what it is! Drugs." is her immediate response. I had shrugged and stowed the card away in my pocket. When my mom came to pick me up, I told her the same story. Her response was somewhat different.
"Preeti, you've got to be careful. There are plenty of men who will take advantage of you, even if they are old." I shrug again and did not mention that I had simply thought of him as being extremely proud and eager to tell the world of his accomplishment.
I recently looked it up and yes, the book exists on Amazon. How amazing. But it turns out it is an autobiography of a sort. I am pretty confident that the man I met was indeed the author--what is the point of making fake business cards and handing them out to random people.
I thought that was pretty interesting.
And I also know that it is far more easier to write about yourself than it is to write about someone else.
This Saturday, I was working my regular shift as a volunteer for the hospital. So there I was sitting behind the lobby desk, reading some stupid celebrity tabloid and feeling my brain cells die one by one, when this elderly man comes up to the desk. I look up, give him a smile and say the standard greeting ("Hi! Can I help you?"). He just looks down at the magazine I was reading, smiles and this is the conversation that ensues:
Him: You're a reader, right/ You like to read?
Me: [not sure where this was going] Uh. Yes, of course.
Him: I'm an author. I just got my book published.
Me: [overwhelmed with shock. I did not expect that.] Oh, well, good for you!
Him: Want my card? [And without waiting for my response, which was "Sure!", he fumbles around and pulls out his card.]
Me: Thank you.
Him: Thank you. [and wanders off]
I stare at the card and it reads Reflections of Gratitude: An Inspirational Love Story by David M. Seymon along with contact information. I start to chuckly softly and the girl working with me looks at me weird. She hadn't heard the conversation; she had been doing homework. I get up and head over to the gift shop to see my friend because I'm just bursting to tell someone what had just taken place.
"OMG he must be on crack. That's what it is! Drugs." is her immediate response. I had shrugged and stowed the card away in my pocket. When my mom came to pick me up, I told her the same story. Her response was somewhat different.
"Preeti, you've got to be careful. There are plenty of men who will take advantage of you, even if they are old." I shrug again and did not mention that I had simply thought of him as being extremely proud and eager to tell the world of his accomplishment.
I recently looked it up and yes, the book exists on Amazon. How amazing. But it turns out it is an autobiography of a sort. I am pretty confident that the man I met was indeed the author--what is the point of making fake business cards and handing them out to random people.
I thought that was pretty interesting.
And I also know that it is far more easier to write about yourself than it is to write about someone else.