June 2, 2025 Irish Welcome and Home

 Apologies for the delay in posting! Our once-in-a-lifetime trip kept us hopping, with packing, closing up the shop and house, boarding the dog...the list went on and on. We were especially happy to have the diversion of this event as our cabinets had not yet been started when we left.

I could wax poetic over the spectacle of Ireland, but today I want to share an observation, one that has left me humbled and proud to have so much of these lovely people's blood running through my veins.

From the flight attendants to the hotel personnel to the shop owners, to name only a few, at no time was there any trace of rudeness, impatience, or upset. Never. Not what we see here, almost daily, in one place or another.

The Irish are welcoming, generous, and kind, not just because we were tourists, either. They treated us like guests in their own homes, as old friends, not strangers. In strolling the pretty streets, it became a common occurrence to be stopped for a visit. No one acted nosy, just genuinely interested in from where we came. No joke, when we happily shared that we lived in the Sister City of Dublin, we got fun reactions.

Knowing I am the product of both sets of great-grandparents who left their origins in Galway County and Kilkenny, explained my instant feeling of home.

At the end of it all, on our flight home, the high of seeing the goodness in the world came crashing down...thanks to one of our tour members. One of the flight attendants was making her way up the aisle, gathering cups, napkins, etc. These people ran like a well-oiled machine. That is why I was so shocked when this man approached her, trying to dump his trash. She kindly told him she was going to be right there, but he responded that "he was tired of having to hold all this", then threw it at her. Right in front of me. She dealt with it with no response other that closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before clearing the mess he'd made. There may have been a slight eye roll, as well, but who could blame her?

Welcome back to America.

Thanks for stopping by. ☘

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