Being Mr. Rogers

Unlike Sesame Street, the American kids TV show Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood never made it onto German TV screens.

The show had a deep impact on several generations of American children and, to this day, remains an iconic, often quoted example of great TV for children.

In popular US culture, Mr. Rogers has become something of the image of the nice guy, with his style as a gentle, soft-spoken, and direct personality.

A K-landnews contributor once had a co-worker nicknamed Mr. Rogers, presumably for these very traits as well a a big smile.

One day, our Mr. Rogers arrived at the office in the morning wearing a smile even bigger than usual. Which was hard to do.

The reason for the huge smile soon became clear.

After dropping his worn backpack on his desk and turning on the computer, the man headed straight for the cubicle of the colleague who had given him the monicker.

I can confirm that the nickname is correct, he said to the slightly puzzled colleague. Here's what happened.

I was at the corner store last night and got in line behind the only two other customers at the cash register. They were two middle-aged black males, and they were bantering with the clerk as the latter was tallying up their purchase.
When he was done, they paid and bid goodbye. They made their way towards the exit without noticing me. I stepped forward, greeted the store clerk, and we started to talk. Suddenly, one of the men spun around, looked at me and broke into a grin as he exclaimed 'you are Mr. Rogers'. He took one step towards me, as if he did not trust his eyes and ears, then said to the clerk and his companion 'I can't believe it, he is Mr. Rogers. You know, I used to live around the corner from the real Mr. Rogers.' Throughout the short exchange, the speaker never lost his smile. He wished me a good evening, I reciprocated, and the pair left the store, him still chuckling and shaking his head.