He was playing the watermelons like bongo drums and we smiled and wished him well on his selection. So of course we nodded in greeting when saw him in the cheese section commenting with affirmation on the contents of his cart – watermelon, fresh snapper and a bottle of wine.
That simple opening turned into a 30 minute conversation with this engaging 69 year old African American high school history teacher. He despaired the limited education of white Pacific Northwest young people when he mentioned the anniversary of Bloody Sunday and my 30 year old daughter didn’t know what he was talking about. I felt awful for feeling I failed in my daughter’s upbringing, my daughter felt bad for not listening more to her history-buff dad. We went on to talk more history – Jim Crow, Vietnam, references to the middle east where he has a daughter serving in the army and ended with him summarizing his upcoming lessons to his class on WW1.
We left Cosco with more in our hearts than our cart that day. We’ll remember you forever, Mr. Snead from Chief Sealth High School.
wake up and write 
March 7th, 2015 at 8:45 pm
Good conversation and memories can happen anywhere.
March 7th, 2015 at 8:50 pm
And I will remember him too. Thank you for sharing how you made a new friend. Listening when someone speaks and not just hearing makes all the difference.
March 9th, 2015 at 12:36 pm
What special moments you created in what could have been an everyday, mundane trip to the store.