We weren’t expecting that

By JAMES SNYDER

Sometimes things happen that you never expected. When those unexpected things happen, if they are good, that is a blessing, if they are bad, that’s a different story.
I learned this expectation of good from my good old Uncle Ted. He was a truck driver and, boy, did he have the stories to tell.
The one story I never believed was about him having lunch at a restaurant. According to his story, he would order a nice lunch, and when almost done, he would take out a hair he had brought along, put it on his plate, and called the waitress.
“Look at this hair on my plate,” he said to the waitress.
Of course, she was surprised because that doesn’t happen much in a restaurant. She was so frustrated that she called the manager and introduced him to my uncle. He didn’t know what he was in for.
“There’s a hair on my plate, which disgusts me.”
The manager looked at it and did not know what to say, but finally, he said to my uncle, “I’m so sorry for this and to compensate your lunch is on the house today.”
He had somewhat of a scowl on his face. He looked at the manager and then looked back at the waitress and finally said, “OK, I’ll let it go this time, and I thank you for taking care of this for me. I appreciate that very much.”
For many years I thought this was just one of his stories, but he, my father, and I went to a restaurant together once. I’m not sure of the occasion, but it was always fun to get together for lunch.
When Uncle Ted was just about done with his lunch, I saw him pull from his inside pocket an envelope, and when he opened it, there was a variety of hairs inside. He pulled a rather large one out and laid it on his dish. He didn’t say anything but just called for the waitress.
“Look at this hair on my plate! Can you explain it?”
Of course, she couldn’t, so she called for the manager to come to our table.
When he arrived, he said, “Is there anything I can do to help you men?”
“There sure is,” my uncle said. “Look at this hair on my plate. Can you explain it?”
The manager was stunned when he saw the hair and, at first, did not know what to say.
“I’m so sorry for this. Please accept my apology and lunch is on the house today.”
With his familiar scowl, my uncle looked at the manager, then looked back at the waitress, and then back at the manager and said, “OK, I accept your apology and thank you for your understanding.”
As my dad and I sat at that table, we did not know what to do. Was this a joke or what?
The waitress returned and told us that everything was taken care of and we didn’t have to worry, and she apologized again.
When we got into our car to go home, my uncle gave a little snicker and said, “You know, that works all the time.” And then he laughed.
I had forgotten about that until last week. Some of our family had gotten together to celebrate Father’s Day at a very nice pizza restaurant. There were five of us plus the Princess of the Family, our six-month-old great-granddaughter. Of course, she was the center of our lunchtime, even though it was a Father’s Day lunch.
We had a wonderful time, and the pizza was just delicious. It’s one of our favorite pizza restaurants in town.
As we finished, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage sighed deeply and said, “Oh no. It can’t be!”
We did not know what she was talking about, and then she called the waiter over and showed him that in the crust of her pizza was a human hair. It was baked into the crust, and only The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage would ever be able to see that.
The waiter came, and she showed him the hair, and he was rather stunned and said, “I’ll go get the manager.”
The manager came out, and we could tell the hair did not belong to him because he was bald. Not even facial hair.
“I don’t know how that happened, and I’m very sorry. Could I bring you a free pizza?”
We told him we were full and could not eat any more pizza. Then he surprised us.
“I’m so sorry for this, and let me say right now that your lunch is on me today. This will not cost you anything.”
He wouldn’t take no for an answer, so we accepted his generosity.
I know The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage can do anything and everything, but I never realized that she also could clone my uncle.
On the way home I couldn’t help but think of Ecclesiastes 2:15, “Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.”
Instead of judging other people for what they do, I need to pay close attention to what I’m doing daily.

Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Telephone 1-352-216-3025, e-mail jamessnyder51@gmail.com, website www.jamessnyderministries.com.