The Next Generation

I'm not sure if I've ever really said how I became a sock knitter here.
I walked into A.C. Moore on a day they were having a knitting group there. One of the ladies was working on a loom, and another was working on a sock. I asked her if sock knitting was difficult, and got the snarkiest "No" I've ever heard from a knitter. I vowed to learn, and haven't looked back since.
Which brings me to the point behind this post. Last Friday I was at my LYS with a friend who needed sock yarn to make her DH a pair. There was a young woman and her mother, and they seemed a bit overwhelmed. The shop owner was busy, so I offered to help them. Turns out the daughter was working on her first pair of socks and was stuck at the heel, and was considering putting them aside and starting an easier pattern. She was from Wisconsin (I also gently pointed her in the direction of Elizabeth Zimmermann and Meg Swansen) and the shop owner there had given her a pattern that was confusing, but had kindly highlighted most of the instructions for her size. We plopped down on the couch, and with her mother taking notes we worked our way through the dutch heel instructions. I gave them my email address in case there were any more problems, but I doubt there will be. She seems to be a natural, she had done the heel flap and leg correctly, great sized stitches, a born knitter! I then went about my business, and the young lady walked up to me with money, saying thank you. When I told her to keep the money, her mother came around the corner, they were both astounded.
As I told them, I was so happy to see someone her age picking up this wonderful craft. Helping someone to understand it, to me, is its own payment.