It Made Me Laugh

I took my daughter out for tacos last night. I've been working hard cleaning out our storage unit and also painting my bedroom, and there was no way I was going to make dinner. My husband took the boys to Wendy's (for some reason, they didn't inherit my taco-loving genes). Anyway, we went inside and were seated at a table when an older gentleman, probably in his mid-fifties, came in and ordered, followed shortly by two younger men, probably in their early twenties, both of whom had longer hair.

The older man struck up a conversation, the jist of which was that he too had long hair until he went on his mission, which changed his life, and he realized the error of his ways. The two younger men were very polite and listened to him respectfully, although I could tell they wished he'd just leave them alone. He then asked them if they were going to school or working. They replied that they were working, and he asked where.

"The state liquor store," one of them replied. I almost choked on my drink.

"I never go there," the older man said. His food was now ready and he left. I snuck a peek at the two younger guys. They shrugged and that was the end of it for them. They didn't say anything about him behind his back, which I thought was pretty cool. I mean, when someone "kindly" sets us straight about the error of our ways, how often do we take it in such stride?

I was still struggling to hold in my laughter. My daughter wanted to know what was so funny, and I told her I'd explain it when we got to the car. You see, it had occurred to me that these young men might really have jobs at the liquor store, but they also might have been yanking the older guy's chain. I badly wanted to know. I mean, I really, really, massively wanted to know. But then I realized I had paint all over my clothes and no make-up on and I was covered in dirt (painting + storage unit = unpresentable) so I didn't go over and ask them. Regardless of where they work, their response was perfect.

Of course, I'd like to see every young man serve a mission. But it wasn't even clear if these guys were LDS - that's sort of important to know before you start asking them about mission plans. And everyone has their free agency. Props to those two young men for A) being polite B) taking a stand and C) not railing on the guy as soon as his back was turned. I'm impressed.