It’s a hot August afternoon in 1993. There’s two guys approaching their mechanic’s shop, each of them, on foot, ready to pick up his car. One is 30. One is 82. The one who is 30 thinks the one who is 82 is going to be a slow poke if he gets to the counter first. The one who is 30 does not want to have to wait for the one who is 82 to take his sweet time at the counter. The one who is 30 has places to go.
So the one who is 30 steps up his pace as he walks across the service station asphalt. “I’ve got to get in there first,” he thinks. “I don’t want to get stuck behind some old guy.” The 30-year-old reaches the door to the office a few seconds ahead of the 82-year-old. The 30-year-old enters first, holding the door behind him for the 82-year-old.
The office is momentarily empty until the mechanic comes in and asks, “Who’s next?”
The 82-year-old declares wryly, “It appears this man has won the race.”
The 30-year-old feels like a heel. Did he really just all but elbow out some old guy so he wouldn’t have to wait an extra two minutes to pick up his car? Oh brother. If there’s an on-ramp to the high road, he’s determined to take it.
“No,” the 30-year-old says to his elder, grasping for magnanimity. “You go ahead.”
So the 30-year-old waits. And it doesn’t really take very long. The mechanic gives the 82-year-old his bill and his keys and asks, in the process, “Are you going to announce the Giants games again this year, Mr. Sheppard?”
“Mr. Sheppard?” the 30-year-old thinks. “The Giants? That voice…hey, that’s…”
“The preseason’s already begun,” the 82-year-old tells the mechanic. “We’ve already played two games.”
“Hey,” the 30-year-old realizes as he listens a little closer to the conversation, “that’s Bob Sheppard! The Yankees’ PA announcer! That’s right, he does the Giants games, too, doesn’t he? And I was about to run him over just to save two minutes?”
The 82-year-old settles his account. The mechanic asks, “Mr. Sheppard, do you want a Giants water bottle? We’re giving them away with every oil change this month.”
“No, that’s all right,” the 82-year-old smiles. “I have plenty of those.”
The 82-year-old drives off. The mechanic turns his attention to the 30-year-old. “That was Mr. Sheppard,” he says. “He announces the Giants games at the Meadowlands.”
“Yes,” the 30-year-old says. “I know who he is. He does more than the Giants games.”
Upon completing his transaction with the mechanic, the 30-year-old has learned more than he would have expected from picking up his car.
• He has learned a valuable lesson about assuming older people are going to be a drag on any given retail situation.
• He has learned that he is capable of shame for acting as if he can judge books by covers and as if he’s not going to age himself.
• He has learned that he shares a mechanic with a certified celebrity who lives in the same general area he does, and even if he never runs into him again (which he won’t), he gets a kick out of telling people when the name comes up, “Bob Sheppard and I take our car to the same garage.”
• He has learned that not everybody necessarily identifies Bob Sheppard for his association with the Yankees, which makes him happy since he’s kind of liked Bob Sheppard despite that association ever since he heard him give an interview to Howie Rose a few years earlier and thought Bob Sheppard sounded not so much like the “Voice of God,” but an incredible mensch.
• He has learned that with an oil change in August 1993, Mobil stations are giving everybody a Giants water bottle. He already has one from the last time Mobil was running this promotion, but unlike Bob Sheppard, the 30-year-old has decided it wouldn’t hurt to have an extra.
Farewell, Mr. Sheppard. I’m sorry I didn’t hold the door for you in front of me.
R.I.P. Mr. Sheppard Truly a class act.
Great story. I’m sure several of us are at one time or another guilty of ‘judging that book by it’s cover’. With me, it’s a little the opposite side of the spectrum. I’ve always had great respect for the elderly. It’s the soccer Moms with the parcels of young kids in line I’m guilty of trying to avoid…..
The best Sheppard tribute I’ve read to date. Terrific as usual, Greg.
Hi Greg,
Didn’t we hear that story before, on a happier occasion?
Probably, Joe. Seemed worth retelling today.
My dad’s favorite Bob Sheppard line:
“Juhgensen…spilled by…Bawb…LUHTsemaaa…”
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by You Gotta Believe!, Greg Prince. Greg Prince said: Remembering a chance garage meeting with Bob Sheppard. #Mets http://wp.me/pKvXu-1Bt [...]
The great lesson to take away from Sheppard’s example is that there is true honor in simply being consistently excellent in whatever it is you do. Sheppard never sought notoriety or aspired to media celebrity. Instead, he was content to teach speech, serve his church, and handle the duties of his “part time job” with a sincere measure of unassuming grace that endeared him to millions.
In other news, I’m pretty sure I have one of those water bottles.
Like Mr. Sheppard, I fear they are no longer with us.
Sometimes, Yankee things aren’t terrible. RIP, Mr. Sheppard.
The best Sheppard tribute I’ve read to date. Terrific as usual, Greg.
[...] it’s very easy to say “hail and farewell” to a great man in the history of both the Yankees and the football Giants, not to mention a great son of Queens [...]
The “Voice of God” was a lector at St. Christopher’s Roman Catholic Church in Baldwin when I lived near there in the late 80′s. His motto, “always be clear, concise, and correct”, was evident at the church lectern as well.
“Now reading, chapter three, from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians. Chapter…threee…..”. RIP to both Mr. Sheppard and Mr. Steinbrenner.