You never know

Around dinnertime last night snow began to fall. It was nothing compared to what folks to the east had to endure, but we wound up with two or three inches by this morning. It looks loverly, but I had to take the Equinox in for oil change and tire rotation and would have preferred not to be out on slushy, mushy roads at 7:30. Even so, the dealership where the work was done is only a couple of miles away, so no big deal.

A friendly young service adviser named Durand checked me in and showed me to the waiting area. He pointed out that there were work spaces I could use if I wanted a quieter spot. He had noticed I had my tablet with me -- he thought it was a Kindle -- and assumed correctly that I would prefer to read without a television blaring the news. I only found that out when he came to get me to sign papers and get the car back.

It turns out he is a big reader and recently began reading on his Kindle the full-length version of books he read in abridged form as a child. When I told him I am a retired librarian, he told me what a big library fan he is. In school he haunted the library in his hometown (Sparta, Wisconsin) so much that his parents called there first whenever they wondered where he was. He wanted to know what I was reading and when I told him I also write, he told me about his best friend in high school who wrote (an unpublished) fantasy novel. Durand helped with the proofreading and editing and still has a copy of the 380-page manuscript

You never know about people, do you? At least, I don't, even though I often think I do.