Made. My. Day. :)

Sometimes doing granite work makes life a little interesting.

Like, I have scars, blood-blisters, and callouses on my hands.
Or I always come home covered in epoxy and mud.
OR sometimes I have very interesting conversations with customers.  :]

Hehe!  This is a good one. ;)

Background:  Dad and I are installing kitchen countertops for a small, sweet, white-haired, couple.  The wife is very sharp, neat, and detail-oriented.  Her 86-year-old husband has a hard time hearing and a harder time understanding.  He is also somewhat suspicious of the newcomers (us), and he falls asleep from time to time.  They sit and watch us the whole time we are installing.

We started working, and all the time, the husband was interrogating us--trying to figure out who we were.  Sometimes the conversation would go like this:

Grandpa:  So how old are you?
Dad:  Forty-eight.
Grandpa:  Oh.......(long pause)......
                Where are you from?
Dad (with a smile):  Out at Springdale.
Grandpa:  Where??
Dad (louder): Springdale.
Grandpa:  Oh.  My family used to live out there.  ...  Did you know my great-grandfather?
Grandma (cutting in quickly):  No, he didn't know your great-grandfather.
...........[pause]........
Grandpa:  ...They built the Church out there on our family's land. (Dad nods) ....They used to call it [insert family name]'s Church.
Grandma (cutting in even quicker):  No they didn't either...

He he he  :)  BUT my favorite conversation happened while Dad and Grandma were outside:

Grandpa:  So how old are you?
Me (loud, with a smile):  Nineteen.
Grandpa:  ....Do you have a boyfriend?
Me (smiling bigger):  No.
Grandpa (jumps, raises his eyebrows incredulously, and drops his jaw while saying...):  What?  (taken aback) Nooo...  Why not?
Me (trying not to laugh at his reaction): ...
Grandpa (grinning):  I took Mom (his wife) on our first date to a sweet shop, and I came home and told my parents, "I found the girl I'm going to marry."  And they...(shakes his head and face-palms (demonstrating)).  Back then, we earned 50 cents an hour... and I took her on a date for 50 cents.  You could do that back then, too.  A movie cost 10 cents a person, and then I'd take her to the sweet shop.  We'd get hot-dogs for 10 cents each, and some candy with the last dime... (He trailed off, reminiscing, and shortly fell asleep.)

Hahaha!  It was so cute and funny!  I loved it!  I'll be honest, I'm kinda jealous of those 50 cent dates.  Sounds pretty grand to me! :D

:)