A Tale of Two Ladies on Christmas Eve Amid the Sound of a Cello. This morning as I was checking out of the Best Western in Washington, MO, the desk clerk Judy was in quite the chatty mood and seeing that my bill was prepaid on a state credit card commenced to discussing in her smoker voice that her sister had retired from the State. I then stopped at our office in Union and the Heather the Supervisor who was on duty really proved to be quite helpful with some need info. I them traveled west on Routes 50 and 28 ending up at the Gasconade County office in Owensville. Marilyn was working and we commemorated my 116th and final visit to a Department of Social Services office with a photo and a white hot chocolate mocha I had bought at the McDonalds up the road. Marilyn was in a chatty mood and about an hour into our visit, a woman rushed into the office and thrust an application for services through the security window and brusquely snapped There! and left just as quickly. At first, I thought she might have a tenuous history with this office, but Marilyn was just as dumbfounded by the incident as I was. When I returned to my car a short time later, I was greeted by a phone call from Tina our receptionist in Jeff City who had made my hotel reservation from the night before for me. She told me that Judy from the hotel had called and I had left a nice pair of slacks. I immediately realized I did. Ive stayed at countless hotels these past several months without leaving anything, so it was only fitting that I would do it today. I called Heather in Union to see if she could pick up the slacks for me. She could. I called Judy and she told me she would be glad to meet me halfway in Hermann (nearly 30 miles from the hotel) to bring me the slacks (she thought I was back in Jeff City). I thanked her for her more than kind offer but told her that Heather would pick them up for me. Judy said she could tell they were nice slacks and she just wanted to make sure they got back to me with it being Christmas Eve and all. I thought of the striking difference between Judy and the woman who was so rude a few minutes earlier. As I headed home, I contemplated what was in Jane Does life that caused her to be acting with such anger and volatility on Christmas Eve? I made it back to Springfield just in time to attend a beautiful Christmas Eve service. The music was wonderful and I especially enjoyed a choral number with piano and cello accompaniment. I find the cello to be such an emotive instrument. It can be both soothing and haunting. The cello can lighten your spirit or tap into a recess of great discomfort. Sort of like two ladies I encountered today: Judy who was willing to travel a great distance to meet my need and an unknown woman who was harried and hateful in her actions. A special thanks to Judy, Heather, Marilyn, and Tina for their kindness and help today and a special prayer for an unknown woman who is on a road with little comfort on this Christmas Eve.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 01:57:00 +0000
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