A costly lesson from a worthless book
The annoyances of unsolicited sales calls are part of the modern life. At one time, our landline phones would ring around supper time with offers for cheaper long-distance phone service. Today we get calls on our cellphones throughout the day with urgent pleas to purchase vehicle warranties before our current warranty expires. Even though the script that the salesperson reads promises much, most of us have grown immune to their promises and simply ignore the calls as an annoying distraction. I have learned to check the caller id to identify telemarketers. My eyes are keen to identify the items of junk mail for an immediate toss in the trash. I consider myself rather adept at both recognizing and avoiding such attempts to sell me worthless products or services. So, it is with some bafflement how I came to make the following purchasing decision.
How a bad joke and dementia have impacted my walk with the Lord
When I was a child, my mother would often take us to visit my great-aunt, who lived in a nursing home in Columbus, GA. When we would enter the building, we would be greeted by a resident who spent his days sitting by the front door. He seemed to always be there. The front of the building had large floor-to-ceiling windows. He likely enjoyed the spot by the front door because it afforded him a good view of the world outside. We would have likely walked past this man with little more than a polite greeting if it were not for his aggressive initiation of a conversation. When the man saw someone enter through the front door and begin to walk toward him, he would enthusiastically and with great confidence shout out, “I bet I know where you got your shoes!”