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We were traveling back to Texas after spending 2 weeks in Atlanta for the Christmas holidays. We decided to stop in Greenville, AL (my hometown) to eat dinner at The Cracker Barrel. It is not a Powell road trip without at least one stop at a Cracker Barrel. As we were eating Jack Wesley told us he needed to go potty. So I got up and took him to the potty. He did his thing like a big boy..good job buddy. After he was done we came out of the stall and went to wash our hands. As we were coming out an older gentlemen was coming into the bathroom. He passed us as we went toward the sink and he went towards one of the stalls. As I picked Jack up to let him wash his hands I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the older man had stopped and was now watching me and Jack. This seemed a little weird to me so my daddy defenses were aroused a little bit. As Jack was washing his hands the old man walked over to the paper towels and pulled 2 paper towels out and stood there facing me and Jack. I could tell that he was waiting to hand Jack the paper towels so he could dry his hands. DADDY DEFENSES ARE ON FULL ALERT NOW. Let me explain something for those of you who dont have kids. In todays society when someone focuses on your kid in a way that doesn't seem normal something happens inside of you as a parent that is similar to Fight or Flight. As the older man stood there waiting to hand Jack the paper towels I was fully prepared to knock this joker out if he made any type of move that was aggressive. Basically I had already made my decision between Fight or Flight...I was ready to FIGHT.
Anyway, back to the story. As I was putting Jack back down on the ground I said to him "Good job dude." He did a good job washing his hands so I wanted to let him know I was proud of him. The old man then handed Jack the paper towels and stepped back towards the stalls where he once again waited and watched.
As he stood there he said to me "Im sorry I couldnt tell if that was a little girl or a little boy."
I responded and said "Oh that's ok we get that all the time with this long hair of his."
The old man then asked just to be sure, "So that is a little boy?"
"Yes Sir" I responded.
At that point the old man turned into one of the urinal stalls and did what he came into the bathroom 3 minutes earlier for. It then hit me why the old man was waiting and watching us. He wasn't some weird old man hanging out in a Cracker Barrel bathroom. He was an old man who was being respectful to what appeared to him to be a young little girl in a mens bathroom with her daddy. He didnt want to use the bathroom with a little girl in the bathroom and out of respect waited patiently for us to be done. This may seem like no big deal to some but this blew me away. For some reason I was reminded of the quote by Saint Francis of Assisi.
“Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”
Simply by the way that man lived his life for the brief 3 minute encounter I had with him, I would have listened to anything he wanted to tell me.
A different world - Non Terps & a lengthy rambling mess
The text below is a post by Scott van Pelt from a few years ago on a Maryland message board about his first experience at an Auburn game.----------------------------------------------------------------------------Imagine you have been married to the same woman for more than 30 years, you love her more than anything - nothing could ever change that. You have shared many of your best memories with her and would never leave her under any circumstances. Then you spend a day with a woman who in some ways is more beautiful than your wife...you may never see her again...but you won't forget her for a while either.Maryland is my wife...Auburn is " the other woman ".If you all love college sports - and I assume you do - you really need to see a game there. I have been lucky to see a lot of places, I have not seen a lot of places like that. It's an amazing scene in every respect.Granted, I was there for # 3 vs. # 5...Auburn was 9-0 so it was bound to be good.Some highlights:I arrived at night with the stadium lit up like a Christmas tree. It sits dead in the middle of campus. A shrine...literally their church - only services are held on Saturday. Made me say....hmmmm...this is promising.Gameday scene - tailgating in every available space...and not like some field full of RV's - though they had that too. But literally people grilling and drinking in every available spot for as far as the eye could see. I lost count of the number of bands and stages and this was at 9 AM.The Fans - I knew I was in a " red state " from all the Suburbans with W stickers but the truth of it is, this part of Alabama is an orange state. Every man woman and child is in the same shade of orange. Not unusual I know ...but THIS was...they are nice, friendly, and polite - to GEORGIA FANS. Nobody called anyone in Black and Red Faggot or *sshole...nobody told them they sucked.... These people are your friends, you don't know it yet because you haven't met them - but when you do - you have met a friend. you want a beer? some bar- B - Q? grab some. Let's talk for a while....war eagle...let's have a good game. I saw this at tailgate after tailgate. Stragglers who wander by are offered anything that's available - didn't matter what color they were wearing. This is the oldest rivalry in the South - they call it Brother vs. Brother and they mean it. Now there are certainly cliche's about down home country sensibilities - but these folks embodied the best part of the notion of southern hospitality. Though many did admit it's a tad LESS civil for the Iron Bowl.Tiger Walk :Impossible to describe. Im - possible. A human welcome mat for the team. The team walks through several blocks to Jordan-Hare through a sea of people. I asked somebody how many folks were there and was told they could never come up with an accurate head count but that they were certain it was "well in excess of 25,000 people." That looked a little light to me...I would have bought 40 grand. 2 hours before kick the streets in all directions were completely - and I mean COMPLETELY jammed. It was like a religious experience. If you can be in the middle of this - and I was lucky enough to get to walk through it - and not be overwhelmed, you are dead my friend. (I just went Larry King on your asses - sorry) I was honestly in awe.Gametime :The eagle circles as 87,521 people ( less the UGA fans ) cheer Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar EAGLE HEY!!! The eagle pounces on some meat product and the hair on the back of your neck stands up...then if you are still unimpressed you get an F-16 flyover and were off and running. Auburn dominates, the band plays, the fans hoot and holler louder than anywhere I have ever been (and go Spinal tap and take it to volume 11 when UGA tries to audible) ... 24 - 6 and it's time for more food and drink...but before that...Toomer's corner :Everyone converges on the intersection of college st and whatever the other road is and they toilet paper every tree in sight. By the time it's over, it looks like a blizzard has rolled through Alabama. There are no riots, no police, no cars set on fire. There are families from grandparents to infants chucking rolls of toilet paper all over the place. Again, i just shake my head at a loss...and maybe a little jealous.It's a special place, the best scene I have ever seen for college football. I have ZERO doubt "our" TEAM could someday be as good. As fans though, perhaps we should aspire to be as classy as those I was hosted by. The type of hostile, vile garbage we are subjected to on the road and are certainly guilty of at home is just embarrassing when you see how they do it elsewhere. Not preaching here - just some thoughts of one VERY proud Terrapin after seeing the light Auburn style.Go Terps - let's get # 5 on Thursday night .
The first image is the view I have each day I work in the office at Dell. The second is my view this week as I have been working remote in Atlanta.
Tough decision.
