The Telling Detail

Once I dated a girl in college whose beauty was out of my league. I remember feeling lucky, and that sense of good fortune was based entirely on her looks.

Perhaps a week after that relationship began, we were walking hand in hand down a sidewalk. Distracted by one another's company we lacked the intentionality that comes with paying attention.

Then, in front of us, appeared a fuzzy green caterpillar inching its way across the sidewalk; its path out of synch with our natural stride so that our step would leave it unharmed. 

However, this young woman, out of habit, broke her stide and left a green stain on the sidewalk. Here was implied the very brief future we had ahead of us.

That's called the telling detail. 

It's a small thing, revealed without calculation, that has the power to indicate something more profound

So it was with Ben at the Labor Day Picnic.

In a previous post I described, tongue in cheek, how busy we were that day. In fact, we were extremely busy. The task of preparing and giving away cotton candy to a sea of children is no small thing. We had two tubs spinning, but five tubs would have been too few. The challenge was impossible. 

Of course, Ben was there. After all, it was the McAdams booth. It was our contribution to the event - an event designed, by us, to show off Ben. His role was the grand signeur, the benefactor, the face attached to all that generosity. 

Then, about an hour after Ben arrived, it occured to me; Ben's invisible, his head is buried in a tub of pink confectioners thread feeding the shuttle to a long line of families. He was clueless that his interests were best served at the other end of that shuttle. 

Ben's sole intention was keeping up with the demand, no matter what place he took in making that happen. 

Finally I tapped him on the shoulder, pointed toward the counter and said, "You belong there, I'll do this."

He looked up, realized the wisdom of my advice, and surrendered the tub. 

There's the telling detail, that small bit of unconscious truth revealing something more profound. In that instant was contained every reason why I'm attached to this candidate, and to this campaign.