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# Some of My Favorite People Are Folks I Barely Know
- URL: https://rough-edges.ghost.io/some-of-my-favorite-people-are-folks-i/
- Published: 2026-10-20T15:34:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-26T06:20:11.000Z
- Description: You know what's funny? There's people I've known for twenty damn years that I wouldn't particularly care if I ever saw again. And then there's people I see for about three minutes a week that I'd actually miss if they disappeared.
- Author: Joe Durst
- Tags: Joe's Observations, #blogger-archive, #Import 2026-10-26 03:50

You know what's funny?

There's people I've known for twenty damn years that I wouldn't particularly care if I ever saw again.

And then there's people I see for about three minutes a week that I'd actually miss if they disappeared.

Explain that shit to me.

I got to thinking about it earlier when I stopped at a convenience store.

Now, I don't know what it is about convenience stores, but they seem to employ some of the funniest people God ever put on this earth.

Especially the women who've been working there long enough that they don't give a shit whether you like their attitude or not.

You walk in looking half dead, and one of them will take one look at you and say, "Well, you look like hell."

Good morning to you too, sweetheart.

Then she'll ask if you want your usual, tell you your hat looks stupid, and somehow you've walked out of there in a better mood than when you came in.

I don't know her last name.

Don't know where she lives.

For all I know, she goes home every night and raises fighting chickens in her bathtub.

But I like her.

## EVERY HARDWARE STORE HAS ONE OF THESE BASTARDS

Then there's the old men at the hardware store.

Jesus Christ.

Every hardware store in America has at least one old bastard who doesn't actually work there but knows more than everybody who does.

He's usually standing somewhere around the plumbing fittings, wearing a hat from a tractor dealership that went out of business in 1987.

Ask him where the half-inch couplings are and you're about to receive a complete history of indoor plumbing.

He'll tell you what you're doing wrong before you've even told him what you're doing.

Then he'll explain how he fixed the same problem in 1974 using a coat hanger, two hose clamps, and something his brother-in-law stole from the railroad.

And the aggravating part?

Half the time the son of a bitch is right.

I like those guys.

## THE PEOPLE YOU DON'T REALLY KNOW

I like the old woman who waves at every vehicle that goes past her house, whether she knows who's driving or not.

I like the waitress who calls everybody honey but will absolutely tell you to move your ass if you're blocking her way.

I like the fellow who sees you struggling to back a trailer into a tight spot and gets out of his truck to help instead of sitting there recording your humiliation for Facebook.

Although, to be fair, depending on how bad you're doing, I can understand the temptation.

What gets me is that some of these people probably don't even realize they're making somebody's day better.

They're just being themselves.

Not trying to impress anybody.

Not trying to build a personal brand.

Not posting a seventeen-paragraph announcement about how they're entering a new chapter of their journey.

They're just out there living their lives, running their mouths, doing their jobs, and occasionally helping some dumbass who bought the wrong toilet fitting.

And I appreciate the hell out of them.

## SOMETIMES FIVE MINUTES IS PLENTY

I suppose the older I get, the more I realize you don't have to be somebody's best friend to matter in their life.

Sometimes you're just the guy they enjoy bullshitting with for five minutes.

Sometimes you're the woman who remembers how they take their coffee.

Sometimes you're the old man who gives somebody advice they didn't ask for but probably needed.

And sometimes you're the poor bastard who gets stuck listening to a Tennessee contractor explain why his bathroom ought to be investigated by the federal government.

We all have our part to play.

Anyway, if you're one of those people who makes somebody laugh during an otherwise shitty day, keep doing what you're doing.

You probably have no idea how much people appreciate it.

And to the old fellas at the hardware store, I appreciate y'all too.

But for the love of God, sometimes a man just needs a damn washer.

He doesn't need to hear about the winter of 1962.

Joe Durst