In my previous entry to this blog, I hung my head in shame for not taking advantage of the unseasonably warm winter weather to take a ride on my day off. No such chance today. I was not and did not let this day get away from me. I didn't have all day today, but I did get close to a hundred miles in. I love my Mondays. Everything looks different when you conduct your "Saturday activities" on a Monday. I think its probably because the biggest chunk of "regular society" is off the grid at work. What's left out there is worth taking note of. We clipped up the road, heading north up into Carroll County. I took note of a man sitting in a folding chair out in his front yard, shirtless, catching a few rays. Now, keep in mind, it's pretty today, but not necessarily what I'd consider "sun bathing" weather. Nonetheless, there sat this soul, soaking in the rays, probably for the first time since the cool air began to arrive back in the fall. I could see him from a hundred yards off or so as we approached, and he saw us as well. Forward in his chair he leaned, waving his arm at us as hard as he could, his smile easily visible as it shone through his grey beard. Happiness poured from him in that moment. I found him to be nothing short of fascinating. I have no idea what his name was and have never met the man in my life, but he was interesting. A Character.
Now, when I say "character" I am not referring to "ones character" or what, as Websters defines as "Character-The aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing". I'm using the word "character" to describe someone. To me, a character is someone that stands out from the crowd, a true 'individual'. Now, I don't mean goofball, as that describes a completely different type of person, though the worlds 'characters' are sometimes made up of goofballs and weirdo's, but also geniuses and saints. Characters add color to the world. Characters make the world interesting and make life exciting. Without meeting him or knowing anything about him, something told me that the "Shirtless Waver of Hwy 70" was a character, someone that had a story to tell.
We stopped in today at one of my favorite West Tennessee destinations, the Hampton's Store, right in the middle of Downtown Skullbone Tennessee. The Hampton's Store is the classic "General Store" where you can get all of your "Skullbone TN" merchandise, plus a couple quarts of oil, a bottle of coke, some BC powders, a toy tractor, and a box of shotgun shells, all pretty much within arms reach of each other. The store is, and always has been run by Mr Landon and Ms Ruby Hampton. While there, Ms Ruby whipped us up a couple of her famous bologna and salad dressing sandwiches, on white bread, of course. The perfect dinner when accompanied by a bag of Toms potato chips and a coke, or "Co-Cola" as my grandmother called them. Mr Landon is one of the world's great "characters", and one of my favorites. He and Ms Ruby could easily own one of the million cookie cutter "convenience stores" that sit on every corner of the world, selling the same old "Starbuck-esque" lattes and fountain drinks, and perhaps even one of the bland, pre-packaged ham sandwiches that sit sappily in the walk in fridges waiting for someone to take them home. But no, they run this absolute gem in the rough. Characters.
Characters don't do things the way the rest of society does. Thank God for that. The world needs characters. We're not all characters and that's ok too. The world needs us both, but its the characters of the world that make things fun, that add depth and color to our lives. Characters don't necessarily adhere to the rules as they pertain to fashion, or order, or symmetry, as the rest of the world dictates. The "normal" world doesn't always know what to do with characters or what to make of them. Characters are often ridiculed for being different. Often judged long before anyone knows anything about them, just for "not being right", in their eyes. Let's take the waver. Many might see an otherwise "able bodied" man sitting in his front yard on a "work day" and label him as lazy at best, or crazy, a loser at worst. Why? Do we know what his motivation is? Perhaps the man is an entrepreneur. A designer, an artist... Perhaps a veteran, retired from a life of service. Perhaps he's like me and just taking a day to not work. "But, why was he waving, and shirtless to boot?". That didn't fit the mold. That's where characters live, where the mold doesn't fit.
I love the business I'm in. I get to see characters every day. Good ones. Productive members of society, managers and labor, landowners and field hands, engineers and artists. The people I interact with day in and day out come from every corner of humanity, "normal" to "uh...wow". I'm so fortunate to get to meet the great characters of the world, both as customers, but also as colleagues. Some of my mentors in this business are characters. I've mentioned Click Baldwin before in this blog, perhaps the greatest character that the Harley dealer network has every known.
I'm so thankful for getting the chance to ride today. And thankful for the characters that I came across. Take my advice, drop your guard and open your eyes and pay attention to the characters. You need them. An "old friend" once told me, "You get more attention burning down the barn than you do taking out the trash." Indeed.
Ride Safe, Ride Often, and Ride with Character.
SMB
