Thoughts from days long ago.

   Have you ever read something about what other people recall only to remember things from your own memories.  I was reading a chapter of some memoirs which got me thinking about times long ago in my own life.  There was a time when imagination was almost as strong as real life.  Memory is a fickle thing.  If you fail to reinforce it now and then things can slowly fade away.  So every now and then, it is a good thing to think back and recall things almost forgotten, before they are.

   Some of what I was reading was about how others have treated you when you were younger, or perhaps even a child.  I grew up in a family business which required interaction with people from the neighboring small town I grew up near.  I recall many an evening having to wait on patrons whom were anything but polite.  The knowledge of knowing that I must be polite even to those who were being down right rude to me.  After all, the money they spent was what help keep food on the table and pay the bills.  Not many kids of seven or eight have learned what it means to do good business.

   What also occurred to me, was the feeling of dread, in that each person I served a meal to, or brought a drink to their table, were the eyes and ears for my parents.  There was nothing I could do in town which would not eventually make it back to the business and my parents.   But, have you ever noticed how bad news travels faster than good?  If there is one thing that people in a small town do love, it has to be gossip.

   The other thing I remember learning, was how to put on a face.  Never let the other person see your hand, we are told in playing cards.  The same is true for business.  You never let a customer know what you are really thinking about them.  You have to make them think you like them.  You have to let them think you really like being their servant.  They want water, you go fill a glass and bring it to them.  They want a beer, you open the bottle and offer to pour it into the glass.  You ask, are you hungry, can I get you anything?  And of course you smile, smile, smile! 

   The other thing I learned was that people like to laugh.  People who are laughing and having a good time, spend more money.  So, you try your best to be humorous.  I think at times I perhaps tried to hard, and was not able to “turn it off”.  This perhaps carried over into my behavior in school growing up as well.  I always felt the need to be funny.  It is perhaps, something that I never grew out of.  Only now, like a matured wine, some of the sweetness of youth has been replaced with a sharper edge to my humor.  I only hope that it is still as well liked as years ago?