Sic Semper Tyrannis

The Kindness of Strangers

I think it’s amazing how complete strangers can sometimes affect you in lasting, profound ways.

Let us hearken back, shall we, to the times when I was a working stiff at the music store. For a while, when I first started working there, the store had a policy where you could hear anything in the store just by handing it to an employee. We would skillfully and quickly unwrap CDs and stick them in CD players for customers to sit and listen to on headphones. I always thought it was kind of like being a musical bartender. And just like in a bar people would come in on a Friday night for some diversion. They would sit down with a stack of CDs and not leave for hours. And it only got on my nerves when customers would sit there and shove a CD in my face without bothering to say a word to me. Now that I think about it that was not a good job for my faith in humanity. (It never occurred to me at the time that when we re-wrapped the CDs that people didn’t buy, we were selling “used” product at exorbitant “new” prices.) But I digress.

One day I was at the bar dishing out tunes for people and this one older African American gentleman with graying hair and smart clothing came up to me with a CD in his hand and before he could ask, I looked at the CD and said, “you need to hear that?”

Without missing a beat, he sat down and calmly told me, “We have very few needs in life. This is more of a want.”

I’m telling you, folks, I will not forget that comment or that guy for the rest of my days.

“We have very few needs in life.”

And he is nameless.

posted by Mike @ 1:37 PM