Hello, Goodbye, a Dinner and a Not Bad Story

Hello, Goodbye, a Dinner and a Not Bad Story, in the week 5 recap from the Carr family.

Hello
Nathalie is always a very friendly person in public. Her attitude can rub off on me sometimes, in smiling at people OR starting a conversation with anyone, but for Nathalie it is like it is second nature. Weather it is in line at Wal-Mart or shopping for groceries, she will always confidently talk to people about anything. On the cruise, this friendly approach was a part of life and strongly encouraged by the staff, and after returning home, I caught myself smiling or saying hello to people for absolutely no reason, more then I do normally, and after doing so I am happy to say it only felt a little odd.

This week while waiting for the bus, a girl said hello to me and asked if she was in the correct line for the Meadowvale bus and seemed to have no problem talking to a complete stranger, and I thought, “Good for you!” Well first I thought, note to self, tell the girls not to talk to strange funny looking old men at the bus stop, but after that I said good for her.

The fact is that I am a good guy, and the girl at the bus stop must have an ability to sense that. And as such, she had no problem or fear in talking to me. No fear for sure because she also told me she is going to a friend’s house in Guelph for the weekend and that she was looking forward to it. Note to self; remind the girls, if you do ever talk to strangers at the bus stop, because you think they are nice, don’t ever tell them where you are going, that is just wrong. I am just saying!

Dinner
We have some odd conversations at dinnertime, and I have talked about some in other blogs, but this week we had dinner and a bit of a night out with our friends L & L and 3 of their 4 kids, and let me tell you, you need some kind of electronic device to follow along with the conversations. It was crazy fun and so very entertaining and to top it all off, the food was great! With that many voices, and tons of energy, the topic of conversation went from algebra to YouTube, and thanks to Google, we solved the age-old question “is a tomato a fruit or vegetable?” These are great people, and it is so nice to have them in our lives.

Not Bad
For the last 7 or 8 years, when I say, “hello and how are you” to a colleague at work, his answer is always a predictable “not bad”. Now to give you a clearer picture, my colleague is from a Caribbean Island and it always sounds more like “noo baad” in a laid back, relaxed, umbrella drink in your hand, sunny, on the beach style. And it is to the point that I expect it that way. Well imagine my surprise when after my typical greeting this week, his response was “I guess it’s ok”. WHAT! That’s not right.

I tell him that I have been secretly tracking his responses over the long time I have known him, and his answer to that question is ALWAYS the same. I told him that I considered him my “World ok Barometer” and that I am a little worried about what is going to happen, now that he has sent the earth rotating in a different direction. He smiled, looked up a little, as if to reach for an answer from the sky and said, ” You know, it really is noo baad!” Phew that was close!

In closing
I have said a bunch of times over the last year and a half of blogging, I don’t do it for notoriety, or recognition of any kind, but it sure is nice when it comes in the form of comments from readers. Thanks to Pat last week and her re-tweet, calling my post the “best blog post yet” and because of her large Twitter following, I was able to pick up some new readers. According to my sites web traffic, I had more visitors last week then I have ever had.

I always start my blog by saying it is a snap shot into life with the Carr’s for any given week and it is, but if you are a regular reader you would have to have noticed that some of my bits are just random thoughts and things that go through my head. You see when I am old and in a home and shouting out random words like “Colour” or “Squirrel”, I figure, at least the doctors can jump online, do some reading and say “Well it all makes sense now!”

Thanks for reading and have a great and safe week,
Jim