I stopped by the Starbucks near work this morning to get a cup of coffee. As I was crossing the parking lot from my car to the store, a gentleman getting out of a big tractor trailer rig asked me if I knew where he could find a pay phone.

"Gee, I'm not sure..." I said.

"With everybody having cell phones these days, it's hard to find a pay phone," he said.

"Well, I have a cell phone," I said. "If you just need to make a quick call, you're welcome to borrow it."

He looked genuinely touched. "Aw, I couldn't do that. It'd cost you money. But it's sweet of you to offer."

I have free long distance, and very rarely come close to using my allotment of calling minutes, but I decided not to press it. At that point, memory kicked in, and I said, "Hey, I'm pretty sure the deli/market over there has a pay phone."

And I wished him a good morning, and went into Starbucks and got my latte, and came out and got into my car.

And the guy from the truck comes running over and pushes a giant bunch of bananas into my hands, and says, "Here you go. That's just for offering to let me use your cell phone. Thanks, doll."

And this is how I came to learn that the only circumstances under which a grown man can call me "doll" and escape a withering look are when said grown man is giving me a bunch of bananas out of gratitude for a simple act of courtesy.

A nice start to the day, that.