More LLV Adventures

I had a certified letter last weekend to be delivered, several actually.  Certified letters requires a signature, so they're a pain in the behind quite frankly. If no one is home or no one answers the door we need to fill out a PS Form 3800, notifying the person we tried and that they now need to go to the post office to sign and retrieve the letter\package themselves.

I'm finding that my success rate for obtaining the required signatures is poor at best.  Most folks just are not home during the day.  Dismounting the LLV, going to the door and waiting to see if someone answers takes time. When they don't answer there's a process to scan the certified item, fill out the form, and leave form behind, again all taking time.  It's really more of an annoyance than anything else.

Anyway, being it was a Saturday, I was successful in obtaining the persons signature for one of certified letters I had!

When I pulled into the driveway, there was a woman with hedge trimmers going to town on pruning some bushes; working on her fall clean up.  I think I startled her because she didn't hear me approach due to the noise of the trimmers.  I introduced myself and told her I had a certified letter that needed her signature.

As I scanned the letter and prepared the scanner for her signature, I realized this woman was listening a foreign language song, which was very familiar to me!  So, as she was trying to sign the scanner in the bright sunlight, making it difficult to see, I asked her if that was Greek music she was listening to and she said yes. SO, when she handed me back the signed scanner, I thought I would thank her in Greek and said "efkaristo"

"Efkaristo" (ef-kha-ree-STO) is the Greek word for "Thank you". The word comes from the ancient Greek word meaning "I give thanks" or "I show gratitude," and is a combination of "ef" (meaning well/good) and "charis" (grace/favor), literally meaning "I give good grace". 

She was a bit surprised and with a BIG grin she replied with "parakaló", which is a dual purpose response to efkaristo, meaning both "you're welcome" and "please". 

Sadly, I admitted to her that I could not speak Greek but for a few words and that wished I had listened to my mother and learned it when I was younger, when she was still around to help teach it; a regret.

This woman told me that she's working on teaching Greek to her young grandkids, how nice!

I'm pretty sure I made new friend! We both departed with BIG smiles and to be honest, it made my day! It helped usher in some wonderful memories of my mom, all be it with a tear or two.

#Blessed