Tristan McCray's Blog
A Saturday Breakfast... / 06.02.09, 11:19 AM
I guess an appropriate blog would be to update everyone about Aucion since we had another interaction with him. As I said in my comment, Zack called Aucion some time last week to see if he needed more help getting the apartment ready as we had some more free time. The good news is that he finished the apt and it passed inspection so someone moved in last Friday. Praise the Lord, as they needed some more income to meet unexpected expenses. The bad news is that it takes away a possible way to interact with Aucion. However, Aucion suggested we get together for dinner or something, a fine idea. We ended up choosing Saturday breakfast, as our Saturdays are meant to be spent building relationships and are pretty free.
In true New Orleans fashion, Aucion arrived at our house about 45 minutes late, which is no problem once you get used to it. Saturday is our shopping day and we like to do it at Save-a-lot, but we need a ride to get there, so we asked Aucion if he wouldn’t mind driving us over there real quick. No problem, of course. We took care of that first and delivered the groceries back to our house. Breakfast, courtesy of Aucion’s wife, Dewan (an excellent cook) consisted of cheesy grits, eggs, sausage and juice. (I hadn’t had my morning coffee, so I was a bit sluggish the rest of the day…) The rest of the morning consisted of us all discussing his business plan for a new product he is producing. I’m not sure I should share much, in all seriousness, but it is patented so I guess it’ll be okay. In brief, it’s a shirt for people who wear their cell phone on their hip (literally) and are always having to lift up their shirt to access their phone. To solve this, he put a zipper in the shirt about where the cell phone would be. He’s almost ready to start marketing and we were talking about commercial ideas and how to make people want them. We were also running numbers for different types of phone service (how people will order the shirts).
I guess about this time Aucion’s friend, Robert, came over. He was helping him do some plumbing in a house. We also would use his truck later to move some scrap lumber. Another friend, Raymond, also showed up. Raymond and Aucion have been friends since they have been teenagers. Raymond had just gotten off the overnight shift at Wal-Mart (stocking shelves; he prefers overnight because there are no customers – it closes). After that he spent some time at his church where he just became a deacon. He’s also going through divorce procedures and is finding himself without a permanent place to stay so he’s been floating around between relatives. You couldn’t tell all this from Raymond’s demeanor, though. He was so helpful and just came over to help us move the lumber and hang out. He was even thankful for Wal-Mart whom he said were going to give him $1,000-2,000 to help him find an apartment. This really surprised me, as my views on Wal-Mart aren’t very high. I know I just spent a lot of time talking about Raymond, but he was just very encouraging to me and a good witness of how a Christian should act.
So, we moved some lumber, probably about five truck bed loads. It was just going down the street, but needed to be moved so they could use the side lot for something – washing cars, I guess. Aucion also does some vehicle repair, so he may need it for that, too. It wasn’t hard work and it was a beautiful day, not too hot, but sunny. We took our time and finished the job. Apparently the city will come dispose of junk if you call them and tell them where it is (and if you know someone who knows someone…). We had an ice cream sandwich (Aucion’s weakness) and by this time it was about 4:30. Wow, only here can breakfast stretch out to a whole day. And I like it like that. Honestly, the people in New Orleans are probably the most hospitable and friendly I’ve ever met. I’ve even heard it said that it’s more than just Southern Hospitality and just a special New Orleans trait. Miss Jolinda has said people even commented on it when they evacuated for Katrina (and others)to other states.
To close, Aucion and Dewan came to church again on Sunday, so that is wonderful. I guess they sometimes go to Raymond’s church for Bible study, so that is good, too. Being able to spend a whole day with someone I’ve met this year was a blessig, it really encouraged me in the relationship building aspect of Mission Year. At least (or most?), I’ve made a friend. I’m already thinking about whom I might keep in touch with after August, and Aucion is one of those people. It’s gonna be hard to decide who is worthy or who I deem ‘closer’ than others to keep in touch with. I guess, though, that this is a life long battle and I’ve already faced it a couple times from high school and college.
I hope this has encouraged you or provoked a thought or made a light click. Take what you will and leave what you won’t.
in faith, hope and love.
1 Comments
Leave a Comment...
Read more of Tristan McCray's Blogs.
People in the world get the <a href=“http://lowest-rate-loans.com”>loans</a> in various banks, because this is easy.
By home loans / Mar 5, 04:27 AM / #