Inspirational Parent for the Win

Me: "Will this be all today?"

Customer: "Yes, thank you. You have a wonderful bookstore."

Me: "Thanks. We try."

Customer's Husband: "Wait! Get this too!"
(Hyper warp speed run up and Micheal Jordan slam dunk of a book of Celtic lyrical poetry straight onto the counter followed by a look of deep satisfaction on the face of said slam-dunker.)

Customer: "Okay. Can we get this as well?"

Me: "Of course!"

Customer Husband: "Great!" (turns and looks at young girl child who is also with them. And by "young girl child" I mean 10-12 yr old.) "You are going to read this to me while we drive!" (Beaming smile).

Young Girl Child: "What? Why! I wanted to read the new Percy Jackson!" (Now a beaming smile from yours truly).

Customer Husband: "Because it's poetry, and you need to know how to read it."

Young girl child: "But why? It's just poetry."

Customer Husband: "Nope. Poetry is never just poetry. You are going to read it to me, while we drive."

Young girl child: " :( "

Customer Husband: "Come on! It will be good for you! Like eating brussel sprouts!"

Young girl child: (look of terror)

Customer/Customer husband: "Thanks again! This really is a great bookstore!"

Me: "No problem! Thanks for coming in."


Moral of the story.
While I have never had brussel sprouts, I have had yams (hold on a second, it has meaning). Growing up, I hated yams. Sweet potatoes? Potatoes shouldn't be sweet. They should be buttery and mashed.  So obviously, I avoided them at all cost.
Then the magical day came when I actually tried them. (Yes, I was the kid who hated foods I had never tasted.) So, i realized that yams, with a little cinnamon, lots of sugar, can be pretty awesome. (No marshmallows though. That's sacrilege.)  
Poetry, is the same thing. You need to find the kind with your topping on it. You can find some spicy cinnamon poetry, or some gooey marshmallow poetry, some bitter, strong poetry with nothing added at all. So the moral is, try poetry cause it's good for you, listen to your parents, and it is never to late to buy another book.