Seeing What I Could Be

The idea of building a 6 gram helicopter was disrupting my sleep. How on earth were the kids going to do it? As I read over the Science Olympiad forums though, it was clear that the best helicopters came very close to that minimum weight. With the model of my double plastic cup rubber band powered helicopter in mind, I headed to the Hobby store. I would consult with the experts.

There are clearly some people who should not be in customer relations jobs. I think if you don't like people, you should work with sharks or maybe gardens.... but you shouldn't own a Hobby shop. Because HELLO, guess who is doing the hobbies? People!

But I had the ill fortune to walk into a hobby shop where the owner clearly did not have the patience or inclination to deal with beginning hobby-ists.  As I grow older, I must rely more on my wit and charm to help people get past my inanity. My good looks just don't seem to cut it anymore. Unfortunately, my wit and charm is not always all that it could be either.....

"Hi! " I said cheerily, noting I was the only one in the empty shop, yet the owner did not bother to look up or move towards me in any kind of welcoming stance.
"I need to build a helicopter," I began, sure that would elicit some response.
"Just sold the last one," he grunted without glancing my way.
"Well I need to build it myself, and I would like some advice on materials. It can only weigh 4 grams."
That did make him look up.
"4 grams?"
"So I am thinking balsam wood."

Later when I recounted the story to Asherel, she cringed and said, "You didn't say balsam wood, did you? It is BALSA wood."
I looked it up and indeed it is balsa wood, though there is a Balsam wood also:

Balsam Wood. Palo Balsamo.—This is a South American wood, derived from an unknown tree, which is believed to contain guaiacin, and which yields to distillation nearly six parts of a thick viscous aromatic oil. This contains as its chief constituent a crystalline solid of alcoholic character, melting at 91° C. (195.8° F.) and corresponding closely to the formula C₁₄H₂₄O. It has found employment in perfumery. (Schim. Rep., April and Oct., 1892.)

Balsam is useful in making incense. Balsa, on the other hand, is a very light wood and is what I did indeed mean, but the Hobby Shop man overlooked my mistake and waved me in the direction of the Balsa.
He called out to another morose and rather unfriendly fellow in the back to help me find the Balsa.
This man looked like he hadn't slept in a week, and perhaps that explains his taciturnity.
He showed me the balsa strips and I asked him how we would shape the strips to form a helicopter rotor frame. I knew we soaked them, but asked him how long.
"Til they bend," he said.
"How long is that, though?"
"Long enough to get what you want," shouted the most disagreeable owner from the front of the store.
"I read that I will need a bearing also," I said.
"For what?"
"For the rotor to spin against," I declared.
But then he felt the need to clarify what this bearing would be attached to and how. Of course, I didn't have the foggiest notion but tried to bluster my way through it, the way my dad taught me. Use a lot of words and hand movements and say things like, "Of course" and "obviously".  In the end, Mr. Taciturn said, "I suggest you draw up some plans and then come back."
"Oh we will," I assured him, "I just want some materials for them to play with and practice, trial and error.... you know how useful trial and error can be."
He didn't answer and I think the Hobby Blobby in the front shook his head.
"But we won't get the bearing for now, just the balsam and the tissue paper covering. Will that rip? It doesn't look very sturdy."
No it was not very sturdy, but if I was careful, it would not rip. They rang up my supplies and hurried me out the store. Mr. Hobby Blobby didn't look up as I said, "Goodbye now! Thanks for all your help!"

When I left the store, I realized that I felt bad... and stupid.  Now while this might be true, there are some people whose company I leave, and no matter what I say or do, they make me feel encouraged, hopeful, and respected.  I wondered what  people feel upon leaving my company. I am often irritated by incompetence and carelessness. I do not respond well to people who exhibit those traits. But I remember a Bible study once where we are admonished to treat others as though we see them with God's eyes, with all the potential of what they could become. That attitude gives a whole different perspective on what we are viewing.What might have happened if instead of seeing an ill-prepared, uninformed, and bumbling neophtye, the store owner had seen an aeronautic engineer in the making? What enthusiasm might he have sparked, and latent genius uncovered?
I left with a prayer for my own attitude, "Oh Lord, let me see the potential in every creature you have made, and treat them as though they have already become what you designed them to be."

Mark 10:20-22 (New International Version)

 ²⁰"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
 ²¹Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
 ²²At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.