A Nice Thing Every Day

Let Us Speak of Funny Men

The other day, one of my favorite patrons stopped by the library to chat about life and books and everyday foibles. I’ll call him David.

This is one of my favorite parts of the job - not the math, or the budgets, or the curation, or figuring out how to fix the furnace. The door to my office is open to the path to the circulation desk so a lot of my regulars will stick their heads in to say hello. I must admit that I lose a lot of time working on those previously mentioned budgets to catching up with patrons, but really that’s more important anyway.

So there he is, David, chatting about who knows what, when he reaches into his pants for a cough drop, and on the way out, a small rubber ball drops out of his pocket.

“Whoops,” he says, scooping it back up.

“What is that, David?” I ask.

“Oh this,” he says. He squeezes the ball and a slit appears along the side. Turns out, it’s a red clown nose.

And he tells me this story.

Back a few years ago, when he retired, he was feeling lonely and without purpose. His work had given him direction, but now in retirement he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. So, he went and asked his pastor for advise. How do I feel connected? How do I feel valuable?

His pastor told him to try to do something good for someone else every day.

“Well, I didn’t know what that could possibly be,” he tells me. “But then I realized, I like talking to people and I’m out and about all the time, in the grocery store, gas station, here and there.” He pauses. “And what’s the best thing you can do for someone?”

I shrug.

“Make them laugh!”

He reaches up and slides the clown nose over his nose and gives me a big smile.

I do indeed laugh out loud.

“See,” he says, “made your day.”

“You did indeed, David, thank you, and that’s beautiful.”

“Ahhhh,” he waves off my compliment. “It’s just a thing. Keeps me busy.”

We live in a world that needs more clown noses. Do something good for somebody today. And tell ‘em David sent you.

Saving the world, one laugh a day!

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Housekeeping: Friends, on Nov. 1, this little community will hit its one year birthday and my how we’ve grown! Over that time, we’ve tried to add a little occasional charm and humor and philosophy to your everyday and I hope we’ve (Mostly? Somewhat?) succeeded. Mainly, Day By Day is a way to avoid the algorithyms and ads of other platforms and have a conversation about stuff that matters. Sometimes, stuff that doesn’t matter, and that’s ok too!

At any rate, please do continue to share and tell your friends and spread the word. Lots of good things ahead, including Vol 2 of our Rocks That Rock field guide series, a wild and wacky concert week coming up in December, and more of the updates you enjoy, from the Life of a Librarian to Parenting Adventures to our popular first Tuesday overviews of Random Mish Mashes!

With all your help and support, we carry on!