Day 1: Freddy

 My weekdays consist of going to school all day, teaching, eating lunch, enjoying a 70-some degree recess, and more teaching.  After that I try to mix in a visit to the gym and then usually hang out at home.  In the day, there's not a whole lot of time to meet new people.  I was actually starting to think I was going to fail on day one of "the trip".  I saw my mail man again.  And the old lady who tries to hang out with him even more than I do.  We all said our usual hello's, but I didn't ask either of them because they were busy in conversation. I didn't have any mail. In case you were wondering.

On this Wednesday, I did indeed make it to the gym.  I'm not really trying to ask anyone there.  The gym is a weird place to have a conversation with someone.  All of the guys are at least 75 pounds heavier than me who take dumbbells way too seriously and I'm guessing any lady would just think I was trying to flirt with them.  Plus, how do you initiate a conversation with someone on a treadmill?  Gym conversation should never be anything more than head nodding, pointing, and the occasional loud speaking due to iPod headphones being in. 

Anyways, after my usual 45 minute gym time consisting mostly of water drinking and Tootsi Roll eating (why would they even offer those at a gym?),  I headed home.  Or so I thought.  I decided I would go to Fallas Paredes, which is a family clothing store right next to my gym. 

I have been meaning to go there for quite sometime but never have, so I thought I would today.  I was on the phone with Kristyn trying to tell her where I was.  I found the store sign and began to say "I'm at...." before realizing I had no idea how to pronounce either word.  This is where Freddy comes into play.  He was standing there re-stocking a shelf and turned around to tell me how to pronounce it.  He told me, I butchered it, thanked him, and then we went on with our lives.  I bought my swim trunks and left the store.  As I got in my car, I noticed my camera on my passenger seat.  I had brought it to school in hopes of photographing my first interviewee.  That's when I decided it had to be Freddy.  He was a nice guy who had helped me without even being asked to--a perfect person for "the trip".  I grabbed the camera and went back in.  I told him I was doing a project and I needed to interview people for it.  He was again incredibly friendly and told me a little bit about himself.  He explained how he was from "The Valley" which is southern Texas and more specifically Brownsville.  His father was in the military so they traveled a lot when he was younger, including living in San Antonio, El Paso, Orlando, Juarez, and many other cities in the US and Mexico.  He said he was back in San Antonio on his own just "keeping his head above water" and working at the store.  We snapped a picture together and then I left for good.

In the span of about 5 minutes, Freddy did several things for me: helped me prounounce the name of the store, taught me something new about Texas, and helped me get my 40 day plan started.  In the end, he probably thought I was just a really creepy tourist. However, the moral of the story is that taking 5 minutes out of your day can make someone else's a lot better.  And Freddy definitely made mine better. 

So to the Freddys of this world, here's a salute to you.