Mount Hope Church Road housewife Mildred Wiseman was surprised when her husband Floyd came home from work last Tuesday in a tux.
“Hey honey, look!” Said Floyd as he entered the house through the front door around 5:10 PM, garbed in a charcoal evening jacket, pinstriped pants, butterfly-collar shirt and bowtie. Floyd works as a parts counterman at the Auto Zone on Brook Road in Richmond, making his surprise appearance in the tux even more unanticipated.
Wife Mildred said she “Was very surprised” by Floyd’s unforeseen appearance at the front door in the formal evening wear. “Floyd has a knack for pulling a surprise every now and then,” she said, as Floyd primped in front of the big mirror on the back of the hall closet door, adjusting his cufflinks, smoothing his hair and turning to examine himself from most every angle. “One time last summer he came home with a bucket of KFC. The boys were especially surprised, because I had already told them they were going to have tuna noodle casserole for dinner.”
Sons Floyd Jr. and Biff agreed their dad’s unanticipated appearance in the tux was very remarkable. “Usually dad comes home in his greasy Auto Zone uniform, because he was helping people replace batteries and head light bulbs in their cars in the store parking lot,” said Biff. “Seeing him in a tux was pretty out of the blue. He’s never done this before.”
Next door neighbors Brad and Helen Strickler also were “surprised” by Floyd’s unexpected appearance at home in a tux. “He’s a meat and potatoes kind of guy,” said Brad, who operates a backhoe for Grubb Construction. “I can’t imagine coming home looking like I just came from a wedding. But that’s Floyd for ya.”
There is almost universal agreement that Floyd’s choice of clothing lent an “air of class” not normally seen in the Doswell area. “Floyd set the bar high, that’s for sure,” said postal mail carrier June Potsdam. “Now it’s up to the rest of us to live up to the standard Floyd Wiseman set. It’s big shoes to fill, absolutely.”
