I was thinking of all the smaller things I am grateful for that are normally overlooked or ignored. So much of the time when reflecting on what is good in life we always tend to think of the big things, and the little things fall by the wayside. I thought this may be a good time to reflect on the small things that are as important as the big things. As a cook that taught me how to cook many years ago said, “The big things take care of themselves, we have to pay attention to the little things.”

I am grateful for my Dentist, and one other Dentist that proceeded him. As someone who spent more time in a dentist chair in school than most people do in their lifetime, I can say, my dentist is a great Dentist and, and a great person too. On one of the fingers of my right hand, I have a scar where a ‘dentist’ jammed the broken remains of a Novocain vial into my hand because he was angry. Most of the other dentist’s were not much better. The Dentist I see now is light years beyond them all!

I am grateful for my Doctor. He is not a pill pusher, and he actually listens to what I have to say and models whatever I need around me whenever possible. I know many people have doctors who hand out pills like they were candy, but that is not medicine to me, that is hiding problems. There was a doctor I had to see due to my job who wanted to do a prostrate check on every male patient he saw. Doctors like him used to be the standard, little knowledge and little caring.

I am grateful for the mechanics that work on my car. The job has become so specialized tool equipment wise, that the days of shade tree mechanics are about gone. Over the years I have listened to and watched customers be taken advantage of by mechanics. It is a sad thing to see, the greed in the automotive repair business, I am grateful my mechanic is honest, and recommends used parts whenever possible.

I am grateful I was given the opportunity to travel around the country and see some of the world when I was younger and mostly single. There is nothing like going to another country and actually living in it. Understanding peoples lives in that area of their country to help me appreciate how good life is here. We want for little that we need, and for almost all of us, we live much richer lives than we need to. This kind of life is not possible for most people in some other countries, even those countries we see as aligned with us.

I am grateful for the person delivering my mail, and the person picking up my trash. They do excellent jobs, and are rarely if ever recognized in their line of work by their customers. I have never delivered mail, but I have family members who did. Often they were out in the worst of weather, working like dogs in the Christmas seasons, and generally working harder than most of us on most days. I had been a garbage man for a short stint, and it is a hard nasty filthy job when dumping cans by hand. When trash is picked up by one person and a truck, it becomes a job something like the person delivering the mail. So much work, and sometimes not enough time.

Finally, I am grateful for the wonderful people that check me out at grocery stores. They stand in one spot all day, talking to hundreds of people a day…and most of those people are complaining. They listen to complaints about the store, or the prices, or the parking. When it is not complaints about the store, it is about something that they have no control over, the traffic, someone’s neighbors, kids, dogs, on, and on, and on. I think these people should be paid by the minute for listening to complaints.

My list of things I am grateful for goes on and on too, but I think I have mentioned enough big small things I am grateful for this week.