A Christmas start

Bright and early on crisp Christmas morning, I went out for a walk. Right outside our building, I passed the fruitman and his handcart stall. We'd been talking about him just the previous evening. Doobie and Bobbis had noticed that his stall was open even at 11 and 12 in the night, and we'd all been wondering at the long hours he kept. Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to go over and ask him about it.
"Hello, Merry Christmas," I approached.
"Merry Christmas to you too!"
"Two apples, please." And as he was picking out the apples, I mentioned, "my friends and I were wondering about the long hours you keep. It seems like you're always open, from early in the morning to late at night."
"Oh, its not just me, there's my cousin too, so we take shifts."
"But till 11 at night?!! Does anyone even buy fruit at that time??"
"We're a very dedicated fruit stall here," he said solemnly.

I liked him instantly. There's a lot to be said for passion and dedication.

Having paid him for the apples, I trundled on down the road. A block along on my promenade, and my path crossed with an elderly blind man. "Hello? Hello?" he was saying to the world at large. Seeing as there was no one else on the road save him and me, I moseyed on over to him.
"Hello," I put forth gently so as not to startle him, "how can I help?"
"I'm looking for my fruitman," he said, "is he around here somewhere?"
"There's a fruitman about a block down the road, sir," I said, glancing unconsciously at my apples.
"Can you lead me to him please?"
"Of course," so I tucked my arm through his and started guiding him back to the fruit stall.
"It's Christmas morning, you see," he told me as we picked our way slowly down the road together. "I always buy myself a basket of fruit on Christmas morning."
I liked the fact that he had a little tradition for himself. Goes without saying that I'm a fool for such quirks and idiosyncracies. I left him in the caring hands of the fruitman (Passionate and Dedicated), and continued on my way.

I felt lucky to have this asked of me first thing on Christmas morning. It felt auspicious, somehow, to be approaching the new year doing something good.