The Coin Return

When writing about “Little Things” I remembered a dear couple we  loved and enjoyed being with. Both are gone now, but when remembering the love, they shared was so sweet and always makes me chuckle.  Jack owned a large, successful steel company, and there really wasn’t anything they could afford. I only mention this to sit the stage for the following story.

We often dined out with them and thoroughly enjoyed their company. Whenever we arrived at a restaurant Jack would say, “Wait here I’ll run in to make sure our reservation is in order.” Then Jack would disappear. Barbara, his wife would comment (every time)  “Isn’t Jack the most thoughtful person – He always checks to make sure, so we don’t have to wait around to be seated.” Jack would then return with a smile on his face motioning for us to join him.

A curious thing would happen as we walked in the door, Barbara would say, “Oh, just a minute, I need to check something first.”  She returned with a perplexed smile on her face and jiggling coins in her hand. “It’s amazing to me, but I’ve learned to always check the pay-phone to see if there are any coins left in the return. Every time, I mean every time, I always find coins. Wouldn’t you think that people would check to see if they got money back?”

I really didn’t know what to say then looked to my husband to weigh in. He turned to Jack who was beaming from ear to ear, with the of grin of a Cheshire cat. Cedric sensing there was more to the story. The two men stopped briefly for a private chat. Jack told him that for years he had always entered the restaurant first, then would place a couple of coins in the return slot of the pay phone knowing full well Barbara would check to see if there were any coins. He said with an endearing look and smile on his face, “It always makes her so happy; you know what really matters in life for all of us are the ”Little Things.”