[fullor30]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Here's the nicest thing a fan ever did for me. I'm not posting this to toot my own horn, just to relate the story. Early last rec season, I was entering the MS gym down the street from my house to work my games. We wear our uniforms to these games. An elderly couple was entering at the same time and the man was holding the door open for his wife. I reached to hold the door for him. He looked at my jersey (my jacket was open in front) and said that I should go first because I was "more important" than him. I looked at him and asked him if he was a veteran of the armed forces. He said yes. I then told him he was more important and he should go through first. He smiled and said thank you. I said, "No, thank you."

The following week, he and his wife came to the gym again. I guess they had a grandchild playing. She came up to me with a paper plate full of homemade cookies and insisted I take them. She said it was for making her husband feel so special the previous week. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, I accepted the cookies. I took them home with me after my games and later that day donated them to a shelter for battered women near my house. The executive director there is a friend of mine and I told her the story. She was very appreciative and when I saw the wife a few weeks later, I told her what I did. She was extremely happy and wound up baking a few dozen more cookies for the shelter.

Herb Padgett and the Tijuana brass band..........