We Weren’t Expecting That

Sometimes things happen that you never expected. When those unexpected things happen, if they are good, that is a blessing, if they are bad, that’s a different story.

I learned this expectation of good from my good old Uncle Ted. He was a truck driver, and boy, did he have the stories to tell.

The one story I never believed was about him having lunch at a restaurant. According to his story, he would order a nice lunch, and when almost done, he would take out a hair he had brought along, put it on his plate, and called the waitress.

“Look at this hair on my plate,” he said to the waitress.

Of course, she was surprised because that doesn’t happen much in a restaurant. She was so frustrated that she called the manager and introduced him to my uncle. He didn’t know what he was in for.

“There’s a hair on my plate, which disgusts me.”

The manager looked at it and did not know what to say, but finally, he said to my uncle, “I’m so sorry for this and to compensate your lunch is on the house today.”

I had forgotten about that until last week. Some of our family had gotten together to celebrate Father’s Day at a very nice pizza restaurant. Five of us plus the Princess of the Family, our six-month-old great-granddaughter. Of course, she was the center of our lunchtime, even though it was a Father’s Day lunch.

As we finished, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage sighed deeply and said, “Oh no. It can’t be?”

We did not know what she was talking about, and then she called the waiter over and showed him that in the crust of her pizza was a human hair. It was baked into the crust, and only The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage would ever be able to see that.

The waiter came and she showed him the hair. He was rather stunned and said, “I’ll go get the manager.”

The manager came out, and we could tell the hair did not belong to him because he was bald. Not even facial hair.

He looked at the hair to ensure it was what she said it was. She turned out to be right, as usual.

“I don’t know how that happened, and I’m very sorry. Could I bring you a free pizza?”

We told him we were full and could not eat any more pizza. Then he surprised us.

“I’m so sorry for this, and let me say right now that your lunch is on me today. This will not cost you anything.”

He wouldn’t take no for an answer, so we accepted his generosity.

I know The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage can do anything and everything, but I never realized that she also could clone my uncle.

On the way home I couldn’t help but think of Ecclesiastes 2:15, “Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.”

Instead of judging other people for what they do, I need to pay close attention to what I’m doing daily.

Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Telephone 1-352-216-3025, e-mail jamessnyder51@gmail.com, website www.jamessnyderministries.com.