Be nice and always do your very best. You just never know who may be paying attention. Here’s my story!
*****
Angie always looked like a million bucks when I saw her. She was beautiful, well dressed and everything hair, clothes, just always seemed to be so perfectly in place. I would look at myself in the mirror before she came by. Do I look ok? I’d ask myself. Do I need to comb my hair or put on makeup? Angie traveled a lot. She must have a travel job. The last place she emailed me from was in Phoenix. We talked about the weather.
Angie’s t-shirt quilt was for her son’s graduation. She came by to pick it up. She’d had a hectic week of travel. She was wearing a red and black Atlanta Falcons shirt and cap. I see the beginnings of a smile before she leaves. Didn’t want you to treat me any different, Kyle, but just want you to know that “Arthur and I are engaged”. Arthur, I thought. “By the way Debi, his office manager, may be contacting you for a t-shirt quilt. We wanted to see how this one turned out first”.
Ring, ring. About a month later, I’m driving. It’s an “unknown” call. Can’t they use caller ID like everybody else? Geesh. Must be a salesperson. Should I answer this? Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes. I pull over. It’s Debi, the office manager. She wants a t-shirt quilt. I need it by the 12th for her birthday. We’re going to “the ranch”, says Debi. “Her” is Arthur’s daughter.
Debi comes by with the t-shirts for the birthday quilt. She also has another t-shirt quilt that someone else made that she wants some work done on. A new quilt and an “old” quilt upgrade. Let’s do this.
We did. The birthday quilt was finished on time. Debi sends someone to pick it up. After another “unknown” call an Amazonian-looking gorgeous natural blond comes to pick up the quilt. She had no makeup on. She was probably 6-feet tall. Long natural platinum blond hair. She must be a model I thought. Now I’m really feeling self conscious. She says thanks, picks up the quilt and glides out the door.
I was in a beauty pageant when I was 17. She made me think of the other contestants I was surrounded by. Beauty that makes another woman stare. She was that beautiful.
Those thoughts all came back to me last night. I’m a nurse and work at the hospital 2 days a week. While at the hospital at the end of my shift I went to attend an all-employee town hall meeting. At the end of the meeting they’re calling numbers for door prizes. I never win anything. I keep looking at my ticket as they’re calling numbers. They call my number. I look at my ticket again to be sure and approach the podium. The executive VP is giving out the prizes. “Are you a Falcons fan” she asks? There’s only one right answer to this one, I thought. “Of course”. I said. She hands me my prize: a nice red Falcons t-shirt. I smile. I love red, and I actually won something. Best is that as my hospital is now sponsoring the Falcons, which means I can also wear the Falcons shirt to work. Nice.
Back to the story so the “old” quilt upgrade that came from Debi was done. This involved replacing some t-shirts (for Arthur) on a double-sided t-shirt quilt that someone else made. The reason being that some of the t-shirts were heavily painted. Paint on t-shirts— in some cases is how the art is applied. Looks pretty, but against your skin it can be somewhat abrasive and not real comfortable. After a thorough workup and test we came up with a plan that included unquilting, and then a lot of hand-sewing to put things back together. The upgrades left the t-shirt quilt in a more useable condition than we received it. The job was done. I had already received a check in an envelope with his name on it for full payment.
When it was time to pick up the upgrade another congenial, beautiful brunette came by. I bet his office is full of beautiful people I thought.
For now the work was all finished. His daughter loved her birthday quilt. He was happy with the upgrade. Thrilled at the mention of #3 now also likely coming our way.
He is the owner of the Atlanta Falcons. He is co-founder of Home Depot. He is the owner of the new Atlanta United pro soccer team. He, Arthur, is Arthur Blank !
Be nice and always do your best. You just never know who is paying attention.
Thanks Angie and Debi for choosing Just T-Shirt Quilts
