Once a week I pick up the recycling at LINK. There is always someone ready to help me, which turns 8 trips up and down the stairs to less than 4. One day when I was taking the last of the recycleout to the van, a helper, who also eats lunch regularly at LINK, said to me, “Thanks, I appreciate you.”

I accepted and said, “That’s a new thing, ‘I appreciate you’, we used to say, ‘I appreciate it’, meaning whatever is the object of gratitude. “Now the trend is to say, “I appreciate you.”

He looked at me sternly saying, “I’m not being trendy. I mean it. Helping out here gives me purpose. It keeps me from finding myself in a worse off place.”

I assured him that I knew he was sincere, and smiled until he returned the grin. Then I said, “I appreciate YOU!”

We laughed.