nteresting thing happened to me today. I finally got signed up (I hope) for Medicare. It took four hours (and two help calls) to get this done. I was dragging by the time I finished. To celebrate, I grabbed the wife and our books and we headed over to our favorite Orlando coffee house, Framework.

When we came in, there is one barista guy I always chat with for a bit. Today when we came in, he said, “It’s my favorite customers”. When I tried to downplay it, he responded that I always have something interesting to chat about, and he looks forward to it.

Really, in a Starbucks, I might think it was something out of their handbook. But here it felt honest. He then smiled and pointed to my Cowboy Bebop shirt and mentioned how he loved that show (want to feel old – it’s been around for thirty years). We talked about the show, the live-action, various things. When we finished, I returned to our table with our coffees with a smile on my face. It was really nice to have someone call me out on a good aspect of my personality. Man,I got enough criticism.

And so, Dear Reader, here is my challenge. In the next day or so, give gratitude to someone who enters the sphere of your life. Show appreciation. Go out of your way. Make an effort. The summer’s head is oppressive and scary, politics are getting nastier, everything is going to shit. So make that effort to put a smile on someone’s face, even if it’s to give someone in traffic a break. Make the world a better place through your actions.

And now, next time I’m in the shop, I need to ask the guy his name. I can’t refer to this kind fellow as “the barista”.

>>>ONE KIND EFFORT WOULD BE TO BUY ONE OF MY DELIGHTFUL BOOKS!<<<