not so self-assured

Certain moments, and words, you remember: and you don't know exactly why. Other things you don't remember after a while, and if you go back and read them in your Diary, you say, "Well, they must have happened because it's written here, from back on that day, but I certainly cannot remember" -- some events and conversations and impressions seem to evaporate in fog.

Last couple of days, I remembered words people said to me which were simple and plain and -- some might think not significant enough to recall, but I recalled them -- three in particular -- and they meant something important at the time, and still important now, in context ... even if the relationships changed later.
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The most recent one was three years ago, Mega-Stress, and found myself on the phone with a man, pouring out my "life-and-death-end-of-the-World" concerns about not having the correct pieces of paper for some people to sign; my voice must have sounded desperate -- I totally remember the feeling.
And when my talking stopped, there were a couple of seconds of silence on the line, and I thought of saying, "Hello? Are you still there?"
but before I could say that,
he said,
"It's a little thing."

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A very simple sentence. The way he said it --
not scoffing, like -- 'You're an idiot to get so upset'
and not PBO (polite brush-off), like -- 'Whatever, go away I'm too important to think about you and your stupid worries'...
and not indignant or critical, like 'What's wrong with you, what're you getting so upset for?'
not judgmental,
not impatient,
not --
anything, just
an even tone: calm, practical -- just a factual statement --
"It's a little thing."
I can hear his tone on the phone, in memory, as if it was only 10 minutes ago.

-30-