Tears and Laughter: There are two types of people in the world, and you are one of them

In retrospect, my two regrets about the whole day are that I was not able to hear what he said, and I didn’t think to take a picture – which…might not have been appropriate to do at the time anyway.

What initially drew my attention toward them was a silver-haired man yelling. He was walking very quickly across the parking lot headed into the casino and was yelling behind him at who I took to be his wife. She was on the opposite side of the full-sized conversion van he had just bailed out of and fled.

I guess there is the outside chance he could have been yelling, “Good luck honey, I love you!” – because as I mentioned, I couldn’t hear what he was saying. But he was flailing his arms around in the air above his head and looking toward the sky when he said it. He never stopped walking or slowed down, and he never looked back.

Meanwhile, back at the van, I could see that the woman was trying to get into what looked like a wheelchair. I felt obligated to go over and offer to help her, she seemed to be struggling. But she wasn’t. She was yelling too. And before I could get to her to ask her if she was okay she shot out from her side of the van in a power chair.

She had lit up a cigarette and damn near ran over him before he made it to the automatic doors. The smoke from the cigarette trailed behind her as she went.

Later that day, I was buying lottery tickets. A lot of Alabamians include this as part of their routine, and if you will go to Florida midday, midweek…you will find that the retired community keeps a fairly high presence during that timeslot. Which is a positive thing. I personally love to see older people living life to its fullest. It gives hope to all of us in line behind them.

What pulled my eye toward these two was the convertible they were in. He was dressed well. Had a touch of sun. And she was taking off the scarf she had been wearing and replacing it with a stylish hat.

He smoothed his hair – what little there was – with his hands after he got out, and then made his way around to her door. He did not rush her. He helped her out and together they made their way in to buy tickets. They were smiling.

After they had left two of the clerks told me more about the couple – how they come in every week and are always polite to one another and everyone around them.

One of them said they have another convertible that it a bit more sporty than the one they were in that day. They drive it when they go to the beach. She said they used to drive around on a motorcycle, until somebody ran into them one day.

We watched through the windows as they were leaving. I don’t know if we were curious about their secret to happiness, or if we were just jealous.

He opened the door for her and waited for her to slowly get in. She took off the hat and put the scarf back on before they drove away.

He was still smiling.

Maybe he felt lucky.

There are two types of people in this world. It is up to us which one we choose to be.

Amanda Walker is a contributor with AL.com, The Selma Times Journal, Thomasville Times, West Alabama Watchman, and Alabama Gazette. Contact her at Walkerworld77@msn.comor at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaWalker.Columnist.