Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2017-42

---

IN THIS ISSUE

• Cailtlin Mercer of California writes about an act of kindness
• Tom Telfer has recently moved again
• Carol Hansen forwards the story of a man addicted to Scrabble
• Marilyn Magid shares some jokes for mature people
• Here is my favourite autumn poem, "Indian Summer"
• Sites are suggested by Tom Telfer and Tony Lewis

Caitlin Mercer of California writes in Heroic Stories about

THE TALL MAN

It didn´t start out as a big deal. We were waiting to board our flight out of Portland, Oregon, heading to Ontario, California, on a Friday evening. The gate had been changed, and everyone was now just anxious to get on the plane and get home.

A man escorted an elderly Asian couple through the line. I assumed he was their son. At the head of the line, it was clear the couple spoke almost no English. A gate attendant was kind enough to escort them out onto the tarmac and onto the right gangway to our plane.

I boarded the plane a few moments behind them and witnessed some confusion. The couple had taken the first two open seats, not understanding the seat numbers on their boarding passes.

A tall man tried to show them how to identify the correct seat numbers, and when they didn´t understand, he motioned to them to follow him, and kindly guided them to their correct seats.

I noted his kind act and smiled, though I figured it was the sort of little kindness any one of us would do.

We waited for an eternity to depart, and finally the captain announced that there was minor trouble with a cargo net and we would be delayed. After more time passed, we were advised we would need to deplane and wait for another plane.

I thought immediately of the Asian couple and how confusing this would be for them. I waited for one of my carry-on luggage pieces to come out of the cargo hold, and when I got into the terminal I looked for them. I needn´t have worried. The same tall man was with them.

He guided them to the terminal where we were to wait, gesturing for them to stick with him. Our terminal was now overcrowded with impatient commuters waiting for the replacement flight, and there was nowhere for them to sit with three adjacent seats.

The tall man spotted a woman sitting alone with an empty seat on each side of her and explained that he was looking after the couple. He asked if she would be willing to give up her seat, and she graciously did so.

We waited another 45 minutes before boarding the new plane. The tall man sat with the couple during the wait, made sure they found the restroom, got a cup of coffee, a snack, anything they needed.

Maybe another aggravated, tired commuter would have seen this as a pain in the neck. But this man didn´t. I´m not sure if it "put him out" to help them. When the opportunity arose, he took responsibility for seeing it through. Really, it seemed he hardly saw it as an inconvenience at all - just a chance to do good.

ED. NOTE: To comment on this story, or to get your own free subscription to the site, click on

http://www.heroicstories.org

Tom Telfer writes about

A MOVING EXPERIENCE

Yes, we moved on September 25th.

A few months ago, at age 81, I thought I don´t need the stress!

I lost my first wife after 51 years of marriage in 2011, and remarried four years ago. My new bride said, "It will give us a fresh start," so we jumped into the "ice water!"

Most of the boxes are gone and we are slowly adjusting to our new location.

We moved from an apartment to another apartment. When we moved from our house several years ago, the junk man picked up several loads. With this move, Goodwill inherited many more "treasures."

Having visited 35 countries - yes - we have a few souvenirs. Now, do we hang all the pictures back up? We have shots of castles, soldiers, sheep, the Great Wall of China, hot air balloons, grandfathers, grandmothers, and a group picture of 200 Army cadets (with a magnifying glass you can spot me in the fifth row). Most of the pictures are now on display at the local dump.

One has to be strong and let go.

Also, we needed new address labels, driver´s licences, and a change of address for our mail and newspaper.

We only moved a mile up the road, but it is fun, trying different restaurants and places to shop. Shopping trips are planned for more modern art work.

Was it worth it? Yes, it feels good to have a change.

Carol Hansen forwards this story about

A RABID SCRABBLE PLAYER

Scrabble superfan Bernie McMahon has established his home as "The Scrabby Nook" in honor of the beloved board game.

He built a Scrabble board in the backyard of his home and regularly hosts fellow aficionados for casual tournament-style play. "Very rarely a month will go by where I don´t have something going on at The Scrabby Nook," he said Bernie McMahon cringes at the suggestion that the board game Scrabble is just a "hobby" of his.

"Sometimes people would use that expression, ´It´s a pastime,´" he said. "It makes our [his and fellow aficionados´] skin crawl."

To him, Scrabble is so much more - it´s home.

In the game, two to four players score points by using lettered tiles to create words in a crossword fashion. The words must be defined in a standard dictionary.

"It´s pretty important," McMahon said. "That´s, like, what I do."

In the early part of the millennium, McMahon, 65, of Bay Shore, began playing Scrabble online. He was alerted shortly thereafter by an online opponent in Texas about in-person meet-up groups. McMahon did some digging and found out about a group that met weekly in Huntington for tournament-level play. "That was the beginning of everything," he said. "I started in 2002 playing at the club, and just after a few months I got onto the tournament scene."

McMahon has since competed in about 50 professional tournaments.

The Huntington group in which he got his start is the seed of the "Hardscrabble Club," a Farmingdale collective that McMahon now helms for advanced players. He is also part of a West Babylon players´ club, which he joined in 2002.

"I met other people on the same wavelength," said McMahon, who works as a printer in Farmingdale. "A lot of them are like little oddballs, but in our own way, we all seem to make our own connections."

McMahon´s connection to Scrabble developed long before he learned of organized play. At age 10, he began playing Scrabble against his mother and continued into his teens.

"It attracted me when I was younger," McMahon said. "There was something about it."

McMahon plays for about eight hours each week between the West Babylon and Farmingdale clubs. He also competes online, via email, and some weekends at his home, which is nicknamed the "Scrabby Nook."

McMahon´s home, which he shares with his 93-year-old mother and a brother, has become a Scrabble haven in its own right. In 2006, McMahon decided to embark on a solo effort to make his backyard into a real-life Scrabble board. He purchased two-inch cement blocks from Home Depot, painted them, and positioned them to replicate the word game.

Photo credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa

"I did it on the weekends, so it took a number of months," McMahon said.

He even made life-size oak letter tiles to fit on the board.

The backyard board game quickly gained popularity as a must-see in his neighborhood and among club members. Various signs are situated throughout his home bearing the title "The Scrabby Nook."

McMahon believes his involvement in the Long Island Scrabble community was fate. "Most people make the connection when they´re young," he said. "It´s not something you just stumble into when you´re older."

ED. NOTE: I play Scrabble, but not to the extent that this man does. I play on Facebook online, and when my daughter comes from Ottawa, we play cooperative Scrabble. We don´t compete - we combine our draws to make the most points we can, and the challenge is to make the best possible scores.

Molly Magid shares a selection of

CHUCKLES FOR MATURE PEOPLE

Marriage is a three-ring circus: Engagement ring, wedding ring, and suffering.

For Sale: Wedding dress, size 8. Worn once by mistake.

There are two times when a man doesn´t understand a woman: Before marriage and after marriage.

Why are hurricanes usually named after women? Because when they arrive, they´re wet and wild, but when they go, they take your house and car.

The woman applying for a job in a Florida lemon grove seemed way too qualified for the job.

"Look, Miss," said the foreman, "have you any actual experience in picking lemons?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, yes!" she replied. "I´ve been divorced three times."

An old man goes to the wizard to ask him if he can remove a curse he has been living with for the last 40 years.

The wizard says, "Maybe, but you will have to tell me the exact words that were used to put the curse on you."

The old man says without hesitation, "I now pronounce you man and wife."

I was in the express lane at the store quietly fuming. Completely ignoring the sign, the woman ahead of me had slipped into the check-out line pushing a cart piled high with groceries. Imagine my delight when the cashier beckoned the woman to come forward, looked into the cart and asked sweetly, "So which six items would you like to buy?" Wouldn´t it be great if that happened more often?

Because they had no reservations at a busy restaurant, my elderly neighbour and his wife were told there would be a 45-minute wait for a table. "Young man, we´re both 90 years old," the husband said. "We may not have 45 minutes." They were seated immediately.

The reason politicians try so hard to get re-elected is that they would hate to have to make a living under the laws they´ve passed.

A man goes to a shrink and says, "Doctor, my wife is unfaithful to me. Every evening, she goes to Larry´s bar and picks up men. In fact, she sleeps with anybody who asks her! I´m going crazy. What do you think I should do?"

"Relax," says the doctor, "take a deep breath and calm down. Now, tell me, exactly where is Larry´s bar?"

INDIAN SUMMER

Along the line of smoky hills
The crimson forest stands,
And all the day the blue-jay calls
Throughout the autumn lands.

Now by the brook the maple leans
With all his glory spread,
And all the sumachs on the hills
Have turned their green to red.

Now by great marshes wrapt in mist,
Or past some river's mouth,
Throughout the long, still autumn day
Wild birds are flying south.

- William Wilfred Campbell

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Tom Telfer forwards this link to a video of Kevin Richardson and Dave Salmoni embedding themselves with prides of wild lions to learn about them and to help save them from extinction:

Tom also sends the URL for another video of Kevin Richardson, this time playing football with wild lions:

Tony Lewis suggests this site for a recitation of "When the Frost Is on the Pumpkin:"

From Not All News Is Bad News, here is the URL for the story of a stranded family in the Scottish highlands that was rescued by "Hogwarts Express" steam train:

Here is advice from CARP about how to navigate a trip to the emergency room, which is often a very busy and crowded place:

Ghana is making money from plastic waste, which is an enormous problem, and employing over 500 people in the industry: