Today I Helped A Stranger

Tweet

Today I went to a clothes store to look for a cardigan. When I was looking around, I heard a man - in his early thirties in my opinion - ask a young shop-assistant if she knew how to tie a tie. She got the giggles and said that she didn’t. He was holding a tie in his hand and was looking desperate. I turned to him and said, “I know how to do it.” He beamed at me and said that he needed it rather urgently because he had to go to a Turkish wedding. He (a German) didn’t elaborate but as the town hall is opposite the shop and the civil ceremonies are performed there, I guessed that that was where he had to go. I told him that I could tie a tie but not round ‘his’ neck, only round my own. He was puzzled. I said that I would make a loose knot, pull the tie over my head and then put it round his neck with the knot. I needed three attempts until I had the narrow end right, that means short enough. It must not be longer than the broad end and show. He had a dark shirt on with some kind of pattern and had bought a tie which didn’t match. I asked him which colour it was supposed to be and he said that it was golden. Well, if he thought so. I scolded him for not being dressed better for the occasion. He didn’t defend himself but looked guilty. I told him when this occasion was over to go to a special shop for men’s clothes and buy some good looking things. Surprisingly, he knew the name of the shop. I wouldn’t be surprised if he followed my advice or rather obeyed my order. Sometimes it’s good to be old. What can the young’uns say against the wisdom of age? Then I mentioned that I had already been to several Turkish weddings (we have Turkish neighbours). He wanted to know what they were like. I told him that the music can be horrible for non-Turkish ears and that he should expect to dance a lot. When I had finished my tie binding service, he hurried away. The funny thing is that I had performed such a tie binding service already many years ago in the main post office of our town. Two Poles were trying to make the people who were waiting there understand that one of them needed to have a tie tied. The waiting people seemed to think that they were crazy but I was convinced that they were harmless. I have no idea what their story was. We didn’t have a common language and couldn’t talk to each other. I tied the tie in silence and got a happy smile for this. You may ask how come that I know how to tie a tie at all? I haven’t got the foggiest idea! There is no man in my family who has shown me how to do it. I just seem to know it. --------------- P.S. The members who’ve read my last but one post 'Today A Stranger Helped Me' must be convinced that indeed one good deed gives birth to another.