Turkey Day is always a special event. I realize that it is a great cliché to write about the generalities of the meaning of this particular holiday and season, so instead I would ultimately like to write about some specific things. First let me get the social obligations out of the way. I personally am extremely grateful for all that I have and all of the opportunities and blessings that I have in life. I enjoy the love that my family offers, especially my parents. I am thankful to live in such a wonderful country.
This Thanksgiving holiday I had the opportunity to visit my oldest brother and his family in Kansas. They are a military (Army) family and he is getting ready to deploy to Iraq after Christmas. We had our dinner on the base and it was a wonderful experience. Every one working there was either dressed up in their Class A uniform or in a traditional costume (i.e. American Indians, pilgrims, turkeys, etc.). There was a ton of food of course, with heartfelt religious and other displays set up, including cakes shaped as crosses and Bibles with verses from Psalms printed on them. Another touching display was the table of the fallen soldier, symbolically laden with an upside-down glass, a plate with a lemon piece, a pile of salt and a dedicatory plaque. It was a humbling experience to be surrounded by those who sacrifice so much for this country and all that it traditionally stands for.
An unrelated recent event also brought to mind some things that I am thankful for. Recently I was in the mail room of my apartment complex where a woman postal worker was busy filling our boxes with the day’s mail. She had only recently started, so I just stood there unobtrusively waiting for my box to be done with. While waiting, a young man walked in and hastily checked his box. He had apparently received a vacancy notice in the box, meaning that particular box had not been checked for a period of ten days or more, and all mail for it was on hold until the appropriate form was filled out. Irritated, he immediately walked over and began to confront - quite openly and rudely - the postal worker for this apparent injustice. After promptly explaining the reason why the situation had occurred and how it could easily be corrected and then prevented by checking the box regularly, the young man refused to acknowledge any mistake or misunderstanding on his part and left the room with a snide comment. I imagine that his immature behavior was even tempered by my unaffiliated, third-party presence. After the incident I felt like telling the postal worker how much I appreciate her service, but alas my second-guessing took over and I did not, though I definitely should have.
In any case, this experience brought to mind how much I really appreciate such taken-for-granted services like getting the mail each and every day. So much of what we enjoy is simply taken as an afterthought, not missed unless it is no longer there. May we always remember and appreciate all that we have, however much or little it may be.
(Original comment moved to the correct post)
Good insight Nigel. I think many of us do not take the opportunity to thank those who serve us, be they soldiers or public servants or as you found, the postal worker. Sometimes our behavior is very unchristian in the least and downright mean in the extreme. Although to be fair, I suppose we could not judge the young man and assume he had had a bad day or a let down or something other that was eating at his mood, of course that does not excuse his or our behavior. Perhaps we could all try a little harder in this area of conduct.