Some things are just personal (standard:Inspirational stories, 948 words)
Author: Godspenman	Added: Dec 05 2010	Views/Reads: 2844/1937	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
I will grant I have a few eccentricities. But, let me make this perfectly clear, far fewer than the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage has avowed through the years. Listening to her, a person might come to believe my eccentricities are without limit. This

I will grant I have a few eccentricities. But, let me make this
perfectly clear, far fewer than the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage 
has avowed through the years. Listening to her, a person might come to 
believe my eccentricities are without limit. This simply is not the 
case. 

I firmly believe one man's eccentricity is another man's way of doing
something. After all, everybody has a way of doing everything they do. 
If that is eccentric, we all have a lot of explaining to do. 

If the tables were turned, I could make an equally infinite list of
eccentricities associated with my wife. Since she sets the table, who 
am I to turn it? I keep this as a secret stash to revel in occasionally 
when I'm feeling a little poorly about myself. The secret will go no 
further. 

An example might prove my point. My wife thinks I am a little eccentric
when it comes to pens. But, not so. I am just particular when it comes 
to using a writing instrument. After all, I'm a writer, and writers are 
experts when it comes to writing instruments. I sure could not play a 
musical instrument, but let me have a writing instrument and I can play 
all day long. 

When it comes to writing instruments, a pen or a pencil, I have my
preferences. When I say that, I must confess, I have never seen the pen 
I did not want to own. The pen, any pen for that matter, has something 
of an alluring draw for me. I sometimes go into an office-supply store 
just to worship before the array of pens they have. Rarely do I walk 
away without taking one pen to the checkout counter and rescue it from 
obscurity. 

I possess pens of every shape and color and purpose. As far as I am
concerned, every pen has a particular purpose. I always carry on my 
person a variety of pens with a diversity of ink colors because you 
never know what you are going to write doing the day. It would be 
beneath my dignity to use a pen for a purpose other than its 
intentional task. That is just the kind of person I am. 

Often a certain resident of our household, which shall remain nameless,
has made fun of what she calls "Your silly eccentricity." This person 
is always looking at me when such remarks are made. I'm not smart, but 
I get her nib. 

If I wanted to make a point with her, I could say she is rather
eccentric when it comes to her tools. To walk into her workshop is to 
be confronted with tools of every size and shape and purpose. I have 
watched her work and she never uses a hammer when she needs a 
screwdriver. 

I once confronted her with this and she replied, "Oh, don't be so silly.
It's not the same." 

Another thing some may consider eccentric is the fact I do not use other
people's pen, if at all possible. And I jolly well do not like others 
using my pen. It's just the rule I go by. When I'm at a restaurant and 
it comes time to sign the credit card receipt, the waitress always 
supplies one of her pens, but I never use it. I always select from the 
assortment of pens I have on my person at the time. That is the reason 
I carry pens. 

After all, I do not know who used that pen last. And, I would not want
to promote jealousy among the pens I do have. This is a rather strict 
rule I have followed for as long as I can remember. I do not use your 
pen and you do not use my pen, and the world is a wonderful place to 
live in. 

This past week I faced a crisis in this regard. I was standing in line
at the post office minding my own business, thinking of the package I 
had to mail. If you have ever been in the post office line you know how 
long it can be and the longer it is, the less people they have to serve 
at the counter. 

If there are two or three people in line there are six people standing
behind the counter ready to assist you. If there are over 12 people in 
line, the number behind the counter reduces to two. It's just the way 


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