by Joe McKenzie
Hon: This may seem weak for a word to focus your thinking and intentions around for the entire year, but the word ‘hon’ could be a candidate, perhaps your weekday word. You can choose something more curated and elevated for weekends. Hon is used by waitresses in Baltimore, at least as a stereotype. I heard it used at a local healthcare facility with the word family in the name. Hon flows naturally from the waitress or hostess to their people/customers. It’s informal, but also an honest real term of endearment. No gum chewing is necessary. Just be real and caring. How would you like your eggs, hon? What’s your focus word for the New Year, hon?
Spinners: There are three decorative landscape spinners outside the Presbyterian Manor. They are currently hidden behind a construction fence. But, they are there spinning day and night. Through the loud, dusty construction work going on right in front of them everyday, the spinners keep moving. They are going with the flow. They are persistent survivors of change. And, like the senior residents of the Manor, they are beautiful and full of life. The residents probably make more grumbling noises about the inconvenience of the project. The spinning yard art just keeps flowing and they remind all visitors of the quiet grace of Manor residents and staff.
Banter: Overheard early morning workplace banter of colleagues about who would be the one working when Christmas decorations needed to be taken down. It was teasing. It was good natured people-who-know-each-other teasing. It sounded like words and feelings that could build the relationship. Who knows who put up the decorations? It was a good start to a busy day at the grocery store, so they were keeping things light while they could. There was smiling. And, a reminder of who else would be there to help, which didn’t sound like much help. Not all work place conversations are this friendly first thing in the morning. You know that.
Glove: You can’t take everything personally, but . . . . On one of these cold mornings, I saw a single purple rubber glove lying nearly flattened in the parking lot of the Y. Well, this thin glove was flat except for one inexplicably raised finger. You guessed it. Who does that? How does the universe spin so that a discarded rubber glove is giving me the finger? Was it a K-State message? Was it merely an accident of time and place? I know. Things happen. I read certain conspiracy ideas into some fairly normal occurrences. Do you? I couldn’t have been the only one to notice this purple glove, so I won’t take it personally, but . . . .
Zip: As in the special code that is used by USPS to get your mail delivered. The definition of zip is what you think it is: move and act with speed. Zippy! Okay, so there is a slight disconnect here. We know what zip is and we know the speed of our mail. They may move with alacrity, with blinding speed at the processing center in Wichita. We’ve witnessed local delivery people driving quickly around town. So, what gives? Do you picture the sloth in Zootopia working at the Wichita post office? Sure, we could see an Executive Order overnight that eliminates the word zip and just goes with USPS Code or postal code, or just ZC. I know sorting and processing mail is a complex and computer aided job. And, we do get most of our mail - eventually. So, maybe I should just zip it up.
