As I go thru the day .... I seem to invite unique encounters ..... here's a few from just the last few days.

Walmart Run: Couple of old guys in the McDonalds ... one playing guitar ... one on harmonica. Bunch of old folks listening. I fit right in.
I noted one old fellow leaving (at a slow pace with a walker). I'd just sat down to eat. About 30 minutes later .... I was leaving and he was crossing the street out front. You needed time lapse photography to be sure he's moving. He's in the street ... I ask if he's going to need any help. Veteren Hat - two Wars. I thank him for his service. He says he broke a leg in Dec. Says he retired from the ARMY in 1965. AFTER putting in 22 years! He retired a Major. Says ... "That's alright ... I'm making the government pay for every day they took me out of high school!"

Gas stop at 7-11: Old lady fighting the gas pump. Standing there with credit card in hand - talking to the pump. I help. We swipe the card. Choose if it's credit or debit. Approved. Choose the octane. Get the hose out ... open the tank and insert it. There ya go m'am. "BUT!!! I ALREADY DID IT!!!! she says. ..... ..... "What?" ..... "I ALREADY DID IT!!!" You mean you already got gasoline, M'am? YES!!! But it said something about wanting a receipt .... and then it said to insert the card!!! "M'am ... it was expecting the next customer ... you are all finished.

Couple of days ago: Guy stops me in the parking lot. He's fighting installing windshield wipers ... in the rain.

In the store: Woman stops me ... wants to know how tall 36" is. She had a box (about 36" long) with a portable clothes rack in it. It said 36" wide ... 19 5/8" Deep ... 60" tall. Well, m'am .... 36 " is about the box height there - that's how wide it is. I guess the 20" deep is the length of a clothes hanger .... "Well - how tall is 60" ?" Well, that would be your height m'am. PERFECT!!!! she says.

A while ago: Helpless old lady, with a cane and an old Caddy, trying to fight the air hose at the 7-11. No coins. No idea how to do it. Kelly and I manage to get her all fixed up. She says something about her husband just having new tires put on the car .....

Just a few. hahaha. No wonder it takes so long to make these guns!

Gary

Oh Come On!!! Something in there was funny!

Man - you guys would make Leno cry ....... hahahah

OK ... your turn to start a thread ..... ..... there's people coming in here with a cup of coffee ... and they need to read something ....

You really need to stop getting out so much...

Gary,

You should come down here and mingle with normal folks.

Ahhhh ... yes. Love what you've done with your hair, Lon ....

Gary,

That is actually a legit photo from a South Beach uh..................festival. All, men too.

Lon

Hi Lon,

Yeah ... believe me ... I could tell.



Gary

You can tell when the weather is nice in Spring. Hardy any post. Everybody to tired from working in yard to type. Dory

All great stories Gary! I hope you are not picking on the old folks. It's nice that you are doing your best to be a Liberty Mutual commercial. Hope others were watching, albeit not too closely, and will pass it on.

I've got two;
I was seeing a long standing patient who began to tell me of arm, shoulder, neck and jaw pain. She related that she stopped on the way up to the office to sit down because of the pain. Well, I quickly arranged for a wheelchair ride to the adjacent hospital E.R. for the impending MI. My nurse returned with the wheelchair, shaking her head and opining that "all these patients are crazy". I was about to rebut her with some wisdom about compassion when she informs me that the patient had requested that she push the wheelchair slower. This in order for her to get one last cigarette before the hospital's no smoking zone! She rightly told the patient that she would get fired if she complied with the request, (only if she didn't get pics).

The second one happened to a friend of mine. He noticed a older woman pulled off a busy highway changing a tire. He pulled in behind and rolled up his sleeves. After finishing the task and was placing the jack back in the trunk, a third car pulled up, a man got out and proceeded to pour gas into the tank. My friend was dumbfounded, "You ran out of gas and had a flat tire at the same time?" he queried. "No, I was waiting for him to get back with the gas and decided to change to my spare as it is a better tire." At which, they jumped into their respective cars to drive off without so much as a nod. He was too shocked to even respond!

Now before you decide that that's what you'd expect from Mississippi, it's just the opposite. As those that have visited will attest, MS has some of the most gracious and generous citizens. Y'all come back now, hear!

Kent

Great stories...

Gary, good stories...but why do these people choose you? You obviously look kindly and wise
I recently pulled up a few cars behind a lady stopped at an intersection, facing uphill. Her car kept heaving and shaking but was going nowhere, and the traffic was building up. I pulled over and got out to see what was wrong. A middle-aged woman, very flustered, asked me to drive the car away for her, and quickly moved into the passengers seat, As I got in, she explained that she was on holiday from Australia, that it was her sister's car, it was automatic and she had never driven an automatic before. I drove it away for her and pulled over away from the traffic. Turns out that once she got herslf stopped on the hill, when trying to restart she was pressing both the brake and the acccelerator at the same time!
A quick tutorial about keeping her left foot completely away from both pedals and she was gratefully on her way
Cheers
Neil

Ha!

See ... you look OLD and wise too Neil ..... hahahah.

Now .... this being 2011 ... I'd have expected the lady to pull a gun on you .... or have you arrested for car jacking! See, look how lucky you were. Ha ... funny ... I did the same thing this winter. Lady stuck at the bottom of our back street. Totally unable to cope with a bit of snow. had to rescue her too. Guess we're just a couple of old super heros ... hahahah.

Gary

Careful Kent ...

You'll ruin all that careful "myth building" the natives down there have spread around to keep the Yankee's out! hahah.



Gary