Doug De Graffenried
Several years ago, I did a funeral at First United Methodist Church in Houston. It was a Saturday funeral, which meant a drive through East Texas to be back in my church on Sunday. The amusing part of the story is that I had already buried this man once in Bienville Parish. His daughter wanted him to be relocated. So, I drove to Houston with the dearly departed in the backseat of my car. For those of you wondering, he was cremated! I’m wondering about those of you who were wondering.
On the way back home, through the woods of east Texas, I found out how strange life is.
There were three businesses that caught my attention. The first was a psychic who was giving readings in a pop-up camper. I know that because the sign was attached to the pop-up camper. I guess the psychic knew when the law was showing up and would take down the camper and move out of town. I don’t believe in psychics at all, but this was funny. A psychic on wheels makes sense. If they are really psychics, they should know who needs psychic readings and could go to them. The psychic could have a slogan, “have visions will travel.”
The second business was an “RV supply center and Notary.” From the looks of the shack, business was not very good. There were a couple of broken-down RVs in front of the shack and the sign was hand printed and tied to the tree in front of the shack. I hope the person had better notary skills than RV knowledge.
The third business was my favorite of the three East Texas candidates for Chamber of Commerce business of the year. The third business was “East Texas PC Service Candle and Gift Shop.” Talk about not having a business plan! Or maybe they wanted to touch all the bases. I’ll bet they stocked their gift shop with candles bought on the Internet using a refurbished computer. They should have bought some commas for their sign. I did try to imagine what a PC Service Candle would look like. It could have been a Politically Correct Service Candle and Gift Shop. Trying to imagine a “service candle” gave me a brain hiccup. I took the sign at face value, appreciated the need for commas, and vowed to quit overthinking things!
Do you have the feeling that these businesses might give their customers “the business?” They looked like they didn’t have a commitment to their business. They looked random and like a BBB complaint waiting to happen.
Have you ever felt life was giving you “the business?” I have too.
My advice, which is free, is to find a church! We will never give you “the business.”
