I grew up with a kid named Glenn who, a little over a year ago, was transferred from Atlanta to Baltimore. Being a good Southern boy, Glenn has pretty much hated living in Baltimore, as it’s cold, and he lives near a bunch of heroin addicts, despite a > $10,000/yr property tax bill. Luckily, he’s recently landed a job in Nashville.
He called me yesterday from an east Tennessee truck stop where he’d stopped along the drive from Baltimore to Nashville. He went to the restroom and discovered a locked door, so he waited outside for several minutes.
The door opened, and a grizzled man in jeans and flannel stepped out, looked at Glenn, and spoke:
Man: “Hey man, you gotta take a shit?”
Glenn: “Umm. No?”
Man: “Well, I just wanted you to know that the paper in there’s all gone. So if you DO need to take a shit, you best tell someone to get some more paper.”
Glenn (hugging the grizzled stranger, tears dripping onto his broad shoulders): “I’m so glad to be back in Tennessee, where a stranger at a gas station off I-40 gives a damn whether I’m going to be able to wipe my ass or not. Thank you, Mister. And thank you, God in Heaven, for this gift of a move.”
Welcome back, Glenn.
glenn gropes gas-station grizzly guy. grins. gets gushy. gak!
There’s got to be some sort of upside to living with so many rednecks.
prefers her fantasy life’s last blog post..From the H-Files (The Hippie Files)–My First Love
yeah, that ‘tennessee trucker’ was actually a traveling toilet paper salesman and he just destroyed the last roll in there.
Nooter’s last blog post..Can You Smell That Smell?
Um, that was my dad. Sorry.
10k/month?? Are you kidding? I’m so naive.
welcome home Worm!
I mis-read it as 10k/month…My comprehension is amazing…
I would be so totally freaked out by anyone hugging me at the restroom door. Ewwww
Yes. this is true..except I didnt hug him…it was more of an awkward pat on the back. Now that I think of it, he was probably wiping his shit covered hands on my shirt…
Touching… in a creepy truckstop bathroom kind of way. But still touching nonetheless.
AvatG, There’s no need to “gak!” It was perfectly natural and beautiful.
PrefersFantasy, Don’t forget the livestock love. A definite upside.
Nooter, Now I know why he was so friendly.
MamaDawg, Your Pappy is one fine fellow. Tell him “thanks.”
Matt, I think it was a year.
Figurehead, I agree! Wish he were in Atlanta again.
Matt, Myopia is nothing to joke about.
Darryl, I sorta like restroom hugs.
Glenn! It’s okay to admit the love. You totally hugged him.
Jeff, I have MANY “touching” stories involving truckstops.
Yes. In the South we care.
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Dude. So awesome. Makes me wish we’d ended up in Tennessee instead of Iowa.. We’ll just have to stick with visiting. 😉
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That’s classic! Southern hospitality and manners at it’s best. I bet the poor guy found out the hard way about the lack of TP.