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A Busy Tailor's Shop. . .

An interesting old illustration of a bustling tailor's establishment.


On the way home today, I stopped by my tailor to drop off the bottom half of my tweed J. Press suit to have a couple of loose buttons on the inside of the waistband, for fastening braces/suspenders to the pants, secured.  He was very busy, but took the time to check all of the buttons and fix those that were loose all the while chatting happily with me about the news in Vietnamese that he was listening to online in the background.  And all without charging me for his time.  

On a similar note, earlier in the week, as I made my way into a classroom building on campus, a colleague of about 55 or 60 stopped me to compliment whatever it was that I was wearing that day.  We chatted for a couple of minutes, and she finished by saying how much she enjoyed seeing men "nicely attired" (her words).  I thanked her and wished her a good day with an added spring to my step.

It is the occasional small acts of kindness like these, from people who are basically strangers, that restore my battered faith in humanity.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

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