What's Important

In a junk mail company I once worked for there was a young woman who was a joy to know, simply because she generally bubbled over with enthusiasm for whatever the subject happened to be.

Most of the friends I had in that company were fifteen or twenty years younger than I, mainly because that was true of the company's general population. Some would from time to time visit my office, close the door, and ask for advice on one personal problem or another, or just vent about a problem and wait for advice. Pet (we'll call her) fell into that category.

One morning she arrived at work a couple of hours late, and instead of going to her desk came straight to my office. As soon as she sat down the tears started, although not in a flood - from the looks of her these tears were the aftermath, and the flood had already occurred.

She explained that she and another young woman had agreed to rent an apartment together. Pet had put down the non-refundable deposit, about $800 if memory serves, and this was the day they were to move in. But the night before - can you *imagine*? - the other person had called and said she had changed her mind.

Pet was devastated. She couldn't afford the apartment alone, she couldn't afford to just lose the $800, and she had given notice to her current landlord and today was the last day she could live in her current apartment.

There was much more discussion about the situation, but at the end her eyes lit up and she said, "But I feel better now. I had a Frosty on the way here."

This was a person to whom all things were equally important.