Before we begin: Tallying snowfall in the metropolitan area is anybody’s guess. Sometimes, it’s measured at the airport, and that is usually less than what falls on my yard. Sometimes, the report is from the Foothills. Sometimes, that is more than falls on my yard. My measurement for the past month (February and part of March 2022) falls between 20 and 24 inches. Fortunate for us, it melts somewhat quickly – just not in my front yard. It snowed, again, this past week; after we’d cleaned the snow from the storm in the preceding week’s storm.
Some record keepers have said that we’ve had snow every week, except one, since the first of the year. Six inches fell, this week. The snow in my front yard will probably still be here in May; maybe, even, late May. The picture shows what is there, now. Across the street, the grass has no snow! And, more snow is expected to fall, beginning as you may be reading this BLOG.
Nice People
I’ve told you many times about this great neighborhood that I live in. Today, I want to talk about other nice people. For example, the persons that I met in the past couple of days at some businesses I frequent. Ordinarily, I don’t mention product names or business names, but I think I won’t be able to complete this blog without including names.
About my Kindle: I took the Kindle to Wisconsin when I was there for my daughter. When I arrived home the first of the year, I looked for and could not find the charging cable. I also looked for the charging cable for my Canon camera. It also seemed to have gone into Never-Never Land. I looked and looked for it; this time, I knew that it was my fault the cables were missing and not the fault of my ghost Jenny. I also think that wherever they are, they are together. I’m sure I took them to Wisconsin and can’t really believe they didn’t get into the luggage or the boxes that came home with me.
After looking for them in Wisconsin, Daughter #3 was kind enough to order what we thought was the right cable for each piece of equipment from the Web. The cable ordered for the camera was the correct one. Unfortunately, the cable for the Kindle was not. And, because the battery of the Kindle was “dead,” I could not even get a number to match to a cable number. I attempted to “gin” up the device by swiping it – several times – to no avail. The battery obviously was dead.
I was passing Best Buy and decided that I would see if there was a cable for my Kindle. I talked with a very accommodating young man who recommended a cable, even without me having the Kindle with me. Unfortunately, the cable I took home was not the proper cable. And, what should I expect since I had not taken in the Kindle for the fit.
So, the next day, I was smarter and actually took the Kindle with me to Best Buy. When I explained what I needed to another accommodating sales person, he very enthusiastically led me to the counter where he selected a box with a cable in it, saying, “We’ll plug this in to make sure it is the right cable and that it can charge your machine.” I mentioned that the cable had two USB port ends, and I needed something to plug into a wall socket. “We have a connecter for that,” he said. “But, it will make this more expensive.” I assured him that it would be okay, paid for the cable and connecter, and prepared to leave the store.
I told him that I wanted to purchase the e-books and have them installed on my Kindle because when I try to get them from libraries, they take them back before I have had a chance to read them. He took the Kindle, went through the process of accessing the right website to order books.
As I was about to walk out of the door, the young man who had solved my cable problem came out of the stock room to tell me good-bye and wish me a good day. These young people just seem to know everything about electronics and how to make them work! And, this young man was very pleasant – nice, even!
When I arrived home, I plugged in the device, and the numbers that came up surprised me. I had 86% of the battery left. I went ahead and charged it anyway – to 100%. Then, I swiped the screen, expecting it to show something on the screen. It did not. I swiped it again and again until I realized that the machine has an on/off button to activate the screen. DUH! I could have been using it all of this time – until I actually acquired a charging cable, if I’d only turned the unit on!
Medical offices: Doc appointments come often when one is as old as I. And, this was the week of the annual mammogram. As with most medical offices, every time you go to one, there are forms to complete. Forms typed in a font that defies reading. And, I’m supposed to complete the form! After spending a few minutes attempting to provide the answers, I took the form to the check-in desk and requested assistance with its completion.
“Not a problem,” said the woman who had checked me in. “Someone will help you.” And the mammogram office worker who completed the form was efficient and helpful with no complaints. These women were very pleasant – nice, even!
Sometimes, as an older person, I think that the younger generations don’t have the qualities we older citizens wish they had. After all, our generation had those qualities and exhibited them, at will! Maybe, we need to be careful about where this thinking leads us and allow the younger generations to show their stuff.
Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are appreciated.
3 replies on “Nice People”
So glad you are reading again! And glad that you’ve had good experiences with young people. There are still so many good ones out there!
Evan is teaching a class at Northern Arizona University this semester. The university recently revoked its mask mandate policy. Evan requested that all of his students continue to wear masks because he has an eight-month-old that can’t be vaccinated and me who has a lung disease. When he went to class last night he expected to have students not masking in defiance of his request. Instead when he walked in the room all of the students were masked. What a great feeling to see these young people respectful of his wishes in a pandemic that has sometimes drawn lines between the young and the old.
Many younger people can be very helpful. Patience is a virtue especially when one is young and helping an older person. How fortunate you were to find some nice, young people to assist you, ma!
Just returned from a 14 day trip (which was actually 3 days too long:), but I did it. Even in a foreign country there were many people – young and old who stepped up to help me over curbs, up and down steps. I was with a group of varied ages and the younger ones and sometimes ones who were almost my age kept assisting me with steps. I was amused at one time when I realized that two of us elder folk were helping each other.