HUMANS OF THE PFISTER | NOVEMBER 2016 | A Month of Gratitude | “Getting Down-to-Earth on the Hallway Couch”

I saw this father-son duo running across the street as I was pulling into the parking structure today.  They looked like they were in a hurry to get somewhere.  Turns out, they were hurrying to this couch just across the hallway from the studio.  I happened to be sitting on the end, waiting for Pamela to arrive with images for our holiday cards (coming soon to the Holiday Marketplace btw), when they walked over and plopped themselves down next to me.  My first thought: “Really?  We’re all going to sit on this little couch together?  How about a little personal space?”  But they didn’t seem to mind, so I decided not to mind.

The dad kept checking his phone and the young man kept looking up and down the hall.  I thought they might be waiting for a family member, but it turns out they were keeping an eye out for, ahem, tall men who may or may not have been, ahem, basketball players.  Die-hard fans from, ahem, Illinois, who were going to the Bucks-Cavaliers game that evening.  After being warned by security not to accost the players for autographs and to just use their eyes, this Illinois duo and I struck up a conversation.  I decided to tell them about this month’s Humans of The Pfister theme (“A Month of Gratitude”) and they seemed genuinely interested in sharing.  The young man, a high school freshman, put on his thinking cap and offered the first down-to-earth answer:

YOUNG MAN

So something that can fit into a 1’x1’x1′ box?  I’d have to say chocolate.  It’s a sign of love, right?  When you think of Valentine’s Day and teddy bears, you think of chocolate, too, right?  I mean, food is love.

Can I say I’m thankful for my family as a whole?  Not just one person?  Ok, then. My family as a whole, including my younger sister.  I say my family because it’s like you have the older people, the parents, who are sort of guiding you through life.  And then I guide my younger sister.  It’s kind of like a chain where you’re learning from everyone.

I’m thankful for the value of loyalty, which is staying with someone even when stuff’s not going right.  For example, my basketball team wasn’t that great, but it’s not like I quit on them halfway through the year.  And eventually we got a little better.  Yeah, just a little better.  But I was loyal to them.

DAD

I’m going to say my phone.  It’s a good object that helps me see pictures of my family and allows me to communicate with people, stay in touch.  I know it seems pretty shallow, but as bad as society is with all this technology, I’m able to get in touch with someone at a moment’s notice, even across the world.  I have contacts in Israel, for instance, and they’re just a phone call away.  It’s a miracle–well, not a miracle exactly, but it’s still amazing.

I’m thankful for my wife and the companionship it gives me.  We’ve been together since 1994 and have been married since 1999.

I’m going to say honesty.  It’s good to be honest, right?  I mean, without honesty, all is lost.  If there’s no honesty, there’s no trust.  Think about it: what kind of relationship would you have if there was no honesty or trust.  It’s necessary for every aspect of life: relationships, business, etc.  It’s about having integrity.