I saw a cajun band last week, and one of the singers/flute/sax players--an older guy in his 60s perhaps, had this bushy silver moustache which reminded me of a family friend from long ago, and a story he once told.

My parents had just a few close friends, all of whom would invariably be invited round now and then. One of them was Evan Wood, aka "Mr Wood" to us kid. Mr Wood, with his silvery moustache, burly forearms, glasses, and slight Texas (or some sort of) twang and calm demeanor, became, perhaps unknowingly to him, a grandfather of sorts for me. as my "real" grandfather lived an ocean away.

Mr Wood was a frequent guest for dinner, and it was during one of these dinners that he said something which left a deep impression on me. In between rounds of red cabbage, rouladen, mushy, bland canned veggies, and steamed rice, Mr Wood told us about his time managing an auto repair garage in Texas in what must have been the '50s. Business was good, and he had just hired a second mechanic, who was black. The first mechanic, a white guy, found out the new guy would be earning the same as he was; he asked Mr Wood why he was going to pay a black man the same wage as white one. Mr Wood simply replied that they do the same work, so he would pay them the same; whether he was black or white didn't matter.

I remember listening to that story and being, well, not quite amazed but rather awed; what he said made perfect sense to me, and from that point on I had an even greater sense of respect for him.

I don't know what happened to Mr Wood; I do remember that his wife, who had cancer or another debilitating disease, killed herself while he was out of the house running errands. He came back to the house and found her. He moved away shortly after that, and I don't know what happened to him. I think he had a daughter somewhere; I hope he spent the rest of his time with her, or in the company of friends. I imagine he's dead now, and has probably been so for many years. His simple belief--in treating people equally--however, lives on.

All this from a moustache. It's funny the things you remember as a kid.