Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday so I'll take this chance to tell about my first experience with the religious holiday. It's one story, I'll never live down.

I grew up in small town Alabama where you were either a Baptist or a Methodist. The only diversity found in our town was between the Ford enthusiasts and the Chevy enthusiasts. There was no in between. As for me, I was too involved in baseball to care. So needless to say when I moved to Birmingham for college, the extent of my sheltered life was revealed on a daily basis.

I started working the front desk at the local YMCA during the school year to earn some extra money. One day in particular, a lady came in to the Y, and I greeted her while wearing my awful hot pick YMCA issued polo shirt. I noticed that she had some kind of smudge on her forehead. Knowing she was going into the locker room and not wanting to embarrass her, I didn't mention the smudge. I figured she would see it once she looked in the mirror. Ten minutes later another person came in with a smudge on their forehead. Again, I didn't mention it, but I was like "what the heck?" I thought something must be hanging down from the ceiling hitting people in the forehead! We've gotta put a stop to it! So I proceeded to tell the Y manager and all those around what I had discovered and my fears for others coming through the door.

I will tell you that my co-workers were kind in informing me of Ash Wednesday and the simple crosses Catholics and others wore to commemorate the day. It's a cool rite, and I think of this story on this day every year. If nothing else, it reminds me that I still don't know it all.