“Serving overseas as a small-town boy from America is intense, stressful and humorous! Enjoy a light-hearted story with me from our last 20 years overseas!”
—Matt
Go with Plan D, which is Plan A
Whenever I shop in my small Indiana town or nearby towns, I am thankful for their hours of service and also thankful for when they are closed so employees can take needed time off for family or church. In general, I think we as Americans should demand less of our businesses and pull back from the 24/7/365 expectations.
Living overseas, in many places, commerce is moved by the labor force, not the customers, which can have its problems. Most years we have to take an annual two-day-long trip by boat to visit workers we oversee. We needed to purchase food and water for those two days of travel ahead of time or buy meals at a much higher price on the boat.
When traveling towards the port to catch a boat one time, we thought with the soaring hot temperatures that we should buy the food on the boat as we couldn’t keep food cool. However, wanting to watch our pennies, we decided against it and headed off to shop.
We stopped at a grocery store a little before 9AM in route to the port. When it got to 9:30AM and it still wasn’t open, we thought the store might not open until 10AM. When it got to 10AM and no sign of life was evident, we asked a passerby. He informed us that all stores were closed for a local holiday, but didn’t know what the holiday was for.
Our time was getting tighter to catch the boat, so we stopped quickly at a gas station to see what they might have. It wasn’t a gas station like Phil’s One Stop Marathon in Grabill that has a grocery store and pizza to go. It was the kind of gas station that has cigarettes, pop & water, a few bottles of windshield fluid & motor oil, and dusty racks of snack foods. With less than excitement, we found what food might be able to cover our family for meals and water for two days on a boat.
After getting to the port, we hauled our luggage, food, and water to the reception desk to sign in and find the room we would stay in. To our shock, the employee told us that they would be giving us free meals for the entire trip!
Maybe it is better sometimes to stick with Plan A.
Something similar ever happen to you? Contact me and let me hear your story! Matt’s Mishaps, PO BOX 114, Grabill, IN 46741
