So on Christmas Eve, the oldest son and I had some time to kill. My beautiful wife and youngest son were playing trumpets for the service, so they had to go to church early to practice. As the oldest son was only the acolyte and I was but an attendee, we had an hour between our traditional early dinner out and that church service, so we stopped by the Barnes and Noble.
I picked up a Lee Child novel, as you know. I also picked up a couple magazines: 2600, a couple of writing magazines in case I have a New Year’s Resolution of writing more, and the latest copy of Metal Hammer magazine.
I mean, I’ll need something to read on the plane this summer. It’s not like I’ll dive right into it–I tend to pick up magazines and then get to them later. Sometimes much later.
When my wife and son returned home from the second evening service, I had pies in the oven and the magazines on the desk in the parlor. When my wife saw what I’d bought, she gave me a look.
Because, as I discovered the next morning, she’d been at Barnes and Noble herself that week and bought that very issue for me for Christmas.
Which left me with two copies. I had the receipts, so I could easily return one for the $15 (!), but instead, I chose to give it to one of the instructors at our martial arts school. This gentleman not only leads classes, but has been in charge of musical selections to listen to during the class. He has played Leo Moracchioli, for crying out loud. Although, strangely, he plays the hardest rock for the children’s classes, and we adults get 80s hits for some reason.
Hopefully, this issue will inspire him to put more Jinjer and Ghost on the playlist for us adults.
So I’m not going as far as saying metal is family, but he was pleased with it. Enough for two fist bumps. And in a later class, he chose me to help demonstrate a drill whereupon he punched me several times. So I have that going for me, which is nice.
I’m kidding a bit, but it was a nice thing to make an unexpected and unprompted gift. Off the schedule of the normal gifting holidays and whatnot. Perhaps I should make more of an effort to unexpectedly brighten other people’s days.
