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Today, I had to pull long duty on the reference desk. But the time flew. Enrique, a young Spaniard whose first languages are Spanish and Catalan, wanted to know how he could access newspapers from cities other than Dallas. Excited, I had him draw up a chair, and I showed him PressReader, which is free with a Dallas Public Library card. Our conversation was ranging over a dozen other topics when two other patrons–Julio and his father, Castor–walked by. I greeted them in Spanish, and then apologized for assuming they speak Spanish. No problem… they’re from Venezuela. Enrique, the Spaniard, commented on how beautiful Castor’s voice is, and Castor explained that he is a reciter of poetry. Wow… I didn’t know such a person existed. Later, Castor and I shook hands more than once.
The Venezuelans departed, after Julio offered that he’d love to teach Spanish to any interested Anglos. He’s CLEARLY a brilliant guy. Anyone interested?
Enrique and I talked some more, until it was time for me to take care of library business. I wished him God’s blessing in finding a job as an engineer.
This morning, I wrote about Jesus’ humble representation of the Father (see “Sent“). I knew that I’d be challenged to represent Jesus after writing that. But I wasn’t expecting it to be so pleasant!
— Brad Hepp, February 21, 2023
