Last week I made a date with an older gentleman, and then I stood him up. Oh, I know it all sounds very scandalous, but let me assure you that I’m really just as innocent as I look (or very nearly, anyway).
You see, this gentleman, who I will call Mr. X, because I never caught his name, has been happily married for 50-some years, but was kind enough to offer to be my work-out buddy while I try out a new gym.
Mr. X and I hit it off over the cappuccino machine at a local gas station while I was hunting down a copy of our competitor’s newspaper to see what they were up to (if you guys at The R____d are reading this, you’re welcome to just send me a copy so I don’t have to go to all that trouble of sneaking around and buying one).
Mr. X, being a wonderfully wise fellow, drummed up a conversation from which I gleaned plenty of useful tips for avoiding door dents on my car (park far away, take up two spots and don’t drive anything flashy), living healthfully (never think you’re too busy or too old to work out), and staying happily married (a man ought to give his wife three things: a cell phone, a car and a credit card. “Like a coon hound, she’ll always come home at the end of the day.”).
As luck and life would have it though, I forgot all about my gym date before the weekend and went out of town to visit friends, leaving Mr. X to work out alone.
If you’re reading this, Sir, I’d like to first apologize for my thoughtlessness, and second, thank you for brightening my day with the lost art of conversation and the generosity of a kind heart.
To all my other readers, I’d like to suggest that the next time you’re standing in line, you start up your own conversation with the folks around you.
You never know what sage advice you might receive or whose day you might brighten.
As the parent of a young daughter who dreams of becoming a journalist one day, we read many news articles together. Your articles are particularly useful as a teaching tool. Together, we review weakness of story form and structure, break down your overly-wordy long sentences into leads and nut grafs, identify typos, discuss writing style as a make-or-break signature, and rework your obvious overuse of the thesaurus tool in Word. But your recent “Word from the Wise” article was particularly tutorial. Referring to one man’s comparison of women to coon hounds as “sage” advice was a new low in your journalistic prowess. Bravo.
This isn’t the New York Times and I don’t expect writing from educated professional journalists and I’m sure some of your loyal readers will object to my criticism and come to your defense. I would write citations for their reference but the list is long and who has time for such things. I am a mother teaching her daughter professional writing skills.