What’s in a name? Maybe a smile….

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When we were traveling last week we stopped at a Bojangles in Kentucky for a quick meal. We walked in and this young lady asked if she could help us. Reading her name tag, I said something like, ‘you sure can Gloria’ and with the words barely out of my mouth I noticed this large grin on her face.

Gloria looked at me and said, ‘no one ever uses my name, its always girl or hey you.’ I always try to use a name if I see it, and her response made me realize this wasn’t the first time I had gotten such a response. Another time I said hello to a young black woman working at a store and as she smiled she said, ‘you are the first white person to ever say my name right.’ We both laughed.

Its not hard to treat someone like you would want to be treated so take a second and put forth a little effort. Say hi, use their name, smile… it might be worth your while 🙂

Happy SPD!

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It is my custom to fly the flag of Ireland and the Green and Red of Mayo (the county of my Mum’s birth) today but since moving into the new house, I have not had the chance to put up any type of flag flying device. This year I will just have to fly them here as they were on my old house.

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Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Parents just don’t understand…

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I was doing a Blingo search the other day and I came across this post on MySpace written by a young man whose blog reminded me very much of how I felt at his age. I won’t go into details, or post a link to it, but it was one of those things that gave me a ‘boy, do I know how you feel’ moment. Well, an ‘at least I know how I felt’ moment so I decided to post a little ‘hey don’t worry, it’ll get better’ reply. Read more

I remember my first time…

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I was standing in line at Starbucks on Sunday, waiting to get a little caffiene fix, when I overheard a 20 something male ask his friend a question about Frappuccinos. Not trying to listen in, but hearing what was being said anyway, the next thing out of his mouth surprised me. Read more

We aren’t all so lucky….

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OK, maybe being first generation Irish American makes me think today is my day, or at least more so than all you wannabes 😉

So anyway, just about every other day of the year I display an American flag and a US Navy flag on the front of my house. But on this one special day, I break out my ‘heritage flags,’ the flag of Ireland and a Green and Red County flag for Mayo, the county of my Mum’s birth.

Well last year I had shared a picture of the Green and Red flying at my house with Mike Baynes from the Tweed Centre in Castlebar, Ireland. Although Mike and I have never met, we have exchanged emails after he saw my Ireland movie and I was actually in his store the last time I was in Ireland. Mike figured that my Green and Red may be a bit tattered so he sent me a new Mayo flag. Even though it came to the States via my Uncle Peter, to my Mum in Florida, and then through the US Postal Service, it arrived just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, and I was so excited I decided to put the flags out a day earlier this year.

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To Mike B., thanks so much for your kindness. Your gift is a truly welcome addition to my annual heritage celebration! I only wish I could be over in Ireland tomorrow so that I might buy you a pint to return the kindness.

To everyone else, have a wonderful holiday! No matter who you are or where you’re from, we all share this holiday. Be careful out there.

Slainte!