The End can prompt a new begining

I stopped in to bring my movies back yesterday and almost fell over George Brown, the owner of Home Theater on Second Avenue in Taftville. He was packing up some cardboard boxes in the middle of the floor. Before I could say anything my eyes were drawn across the room at the empty shelves staring back at me. It was like a moment in Twilight Zone episode where the actor steps into another dimension. Something was not right.

For the last ten years I have been dropping in on George once or twice a month to pick up a video or two. Rent one, get one free from Sunday to Wednesday often called my name. Unlike blockbuster or the big box stores, a trip to Home Theater meant chatting with George about life, business and family. He was always there. The few times a year when he actually took a day off, customers would complain about it for weeks on end. He'd laugh about it but people really got on him as if he owed them something.

I think they felt like that because he was a part of their lives. He was a rock in the changing sea of businesses that come and go. He was a neighbor, a confidant, a shoulder to cry on, a pal to share your excitement with. Most of all, George was always there.

On Thursday George told me he was closing up shop and getting a real job. He was selling the movies and leaving the business behind. He said it had been great but times were changing and he needed to do something different. It reminded me that too often we take the people and places around us for granted. We come to rely on them for support, service and our own satisfaction and think they will always be there. I don't know how many people ever thanked George for what he did, but he sure deserves it.

I know when I left last night I wished him luck and thanked him for being there. As I left I wished I had thanked him sooner. Maybe we all need to look around us and think about the people who are are a part of our everyday life. We need to think about the people we take for granted like the waitress at our favorite restaurant, the usher at church, the cashier at the grocery store, the newspaper delivery boy, our barber or hairdresser, the teller at the bank and tell them how much we appreciate what they do. Wouldn't it be wonderful if instead of complaining about all the things that didn't go quite right, we turned that around and used that energy to express our gratitude to those who make our lives a little brighter? I think the world would be a happier place.

Just maybe someone would turn around and thank you for the little things you do as well. It is a new year still. Why not start something new? Let's be salt and spice up the world around us with a sense of gratitude and thanksgiving. Who knows? We might just start something new.

Cal