Wild Strawberries

I have this resident who is kind of off. He's always nice, but just really different. I actually leased him an apartment when he lived at a different property I worked at and then again where I am now so I've known this guy forever. Well he just came in to talk about rent and some other things and I'm talking to him. Now, I'm not really as interested in talking to residents as some people - Joe for instance, will talk to anybody for an hour. Soups did the same thing. He really cared about his residents. Not that I don't...I want them to be happy and healthy, but I don't really want to hear about it. I know that makes me sound like a bad person. So you should know that I listen and nod and smile and laugh at their stories because I know they might just need to talk to somebody. Now the point of all that back story is to make you understand that when this guy was talking, I was mostly just nodding along. He's a sweet guy, but just talks about odd stuff. So I was pleasantly surprised when I enjoyed his story. We were talking about pets because he had to pay a pet fee and he asked if I liked dogs or cats and I told him I had a dog. He asked what kind and I told him she's a mutt, and that we're not really sure what she is. He thinks mutts are the best. He's had some purebreds and they were stupid or mean, but always had good luck with mutts. I agreed. Then he starts telling this story about how lucky he was to live on a farm growing up. They had cats, but they were mean. He's since grown to love cats and their cat is now a member of the family. They would have paid more than the $200 pet fee for her. Anyway, he grew up on a farm in southern Indiana and there was a railroad track at the back of their property. He's telling me how there was a big, what he called an impasse, leading out to this railroad track. He's telling me how it was pure Indiana prairie out there. He just loved it. And out on this prairie, these wild strawberries grew. Wild strawberries, he says, are just the absolute sweetest strawberries you've ever tasted. And that's like a mutt. They are a little wild, but just the sweetest.

I thought that was the neatest analogy. I had never heard anyone compare a dog to a wild strawberry, and I thought, 'That is Tilly'. She is wild, but the sweetest dog. Now you should know, when he started talking about the railroad track and the prairie, I had no idea where he was going with this story and I was floored when be brought it back to the dog thing. This may be why I was so impressed with it. I totally didn't see it coming. Regardless, I'm just glad I was paying attention in between nods and smiles.