Self Respect

Walter Winzt retired last week. He owned and operated Harper Drugs for the last fifty years. With his retirement the store was sold to a chain. I think it will be hard for anyone else to do what Walter did all these years. I suspect they can't.

Walter is always, as Dorothy calls it, neat as a pin. He stopped by the barbershop yesterday (he was never able to do this while he was running his shop) and joined in our little group. Someone complemented him on how organized he was in his work. "I wasn't always that way," said Walter. "When I started out I found myself in a big mess every night when it was time to close. One day I had to call in a relief pharmacist to work while I attended an old Aunt's funeral in Tylertown. The night before he was to show up, I cleaned the store and made sure everything was in place for him. As I was walking out the door I turned and looked back on my work. Out of the blue it occurred to me that I was showing a degree of respect to this stranger who was working for me than I afforded to myself. From then on I put things away and filed immediately. At the end of the day, closing involved little more than turning off the lights and locking the door. And I was able to service my customers more efficiently and actually quicker than when I was messy. I reckon that one moment when I stopped at the door was the beginning of respecting myself."

Walter's little talk showed me why he if so respected by everyone in Harper. He sure will be missed down at his store.

Tales of Harper, short stories and poems about the fictional town of Harper, Mississippi is available on Amazon Kindle

Coming soon: More Tales of Harper (an ebook on Amazon)