Nice!

This is part of collection of short stories taken from 20+ years of working as a pastor and Christian college professor. The working title for the series is: Steeple Stories

"Nice!" Said with conviction, accenting the long "i" sound, can do wonders for motivating the people around you. Celebrating the little accomplishments in life builds a foundation for much greater success. For anyone in leadership, acknowledging others' success validates their contribution and prepares them for even greater achievement.

But sometimes we get it wrong. I mean completely wrong.

The Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario may be located next to each other geographically on the map; however, to get from Aylmer, Ontario to Steinbach, Manitoba requires strapping yourself in for a 22 hour drive. (I've done it in less, yet I can't verify that legally.) Flying would take less time, but cost more money, and living on a pastor's salary, driving was the only reasonable option most times. With a couple of drivers in the vehicle, driving through the night was a great option (at least when I was younger).

Road Trip

On one voyage to the Mennonite homeland of Manitoba for a youth leader's retreat at Camp Arnes, my brother-in-law Ben, his wife Tammy, and I set off on this most memorable journey after work on a Thursday evening. Our goal was to travel through the night and arrive in time for the retreat the following day around 5 in the afternoon.

Now to the seasoned traveller the shortest route between the two provinces takes you through the United States. When travelling through the night, the safest route through the states is to stick to the interstate highways down under Lake Michigan, through Chicago (during the middle of the night of course). Finally you proceed on through the endless terrain of Wisconsin, and Minnesota until you once again you cross back into Canada into the lovely province of Manitoba.

Now the key to a successful trip is to combine the required re-fueling stops with any visits to the bathroom, and meals.

Pit-stop

We were several hours into our trip, night had fallen several hours earlier, and the highways, apart from the tractor-trailer traffic, were empty. Needing to re-fuel, Ben pointed the car to the nearest exit promising a gas station. We pulled up to an empty set of gas pumps and while he proceeded to re-fuel the car, Tammy and I went into the station. I made a bee-line for the washroom. I walked in, past the sinks, past the three urinals; past the floor to ceiling divider separating the stalls from the rest of the washroom, and settled into my stall.

It was good to be out of the car and relaxing on the toilet for a minute or two. As I began to clean-up from my business in the stall, I heard the door open and footsteps proceed to one of the urinals. "Ben must be done fueling up the car." I thought. Within a few seconds of the footsteps coming to a stop, I heard a most robust sounding passing of the wind. The sound reverberated off the tile washroom giving it a presence all its own. If I were a judge in a flatulence contest I would have given it a 9.5/10. (There is always room for improvement.)

The Compliment

Confident that the person passing the wind was Ben, I piped up in my confident encouraging voice and bellowed, "Nice!"

Silence…

No acknowledgement from Ben.

More silence…

Embarrassment swept over me. Suspecting I had made a wrong assumption, I pulled up my pants and cracked open the door to see if I could identify the recipient of my compliment. A mirror across the hall revealed a middle-aged man now standing at the urinal relieving himself. This man probably thought he was all alone and in the safety of solitude had felt secure in shattering the silence. I retreated into the stall and waited patiently while the man finished up and then proceeded to wash his hands. As he slipped out the door, I emerged from my lair now laughing very hard.

In my imagination I pictured someone conscientiously holding back his urge to pass gas in front of whoever he was trying to impress, waiting patiently until he was "alone" in a washroom in a deserted gas station, only to hear what must have sounded like the voice of God announcing, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!". When the three of us finally all returned to the vehicle and resumed our trek, we had a good laugh about the misplaced compliment and the awkwardness of the moment.

I do hope I genuinely encouraged that man. Through the experience I learned that encouragement should likely not happen while sitting on the throne in obscurity, but rather face-to-face while working together.