unexpected

Yesterday afternoon I left work early and drove through downtown on my way home. I was headed to the infamous Belltown Billiards to pick up my sweater that I left there on Saturday night. I called ahead, made sure that they had it, and was anxious to get it back in my own closet. I found a parking spot close by, clicked the e-brake a couple extra times as I parked on the hill, and got out of my car. As soon as I opened my door I was assaulted by this lovely June RAIN and WIND we are having. I pulled my jacket tighter around me and walk/ran across the street.

There was a man using the parking meter/machine so I stood a couple steps back and waited. I heard the sound of his ticket printing and started digging for my wallet in my massive purse. When I looked up, I saw this man handing me the parking sticker he had just paid for. I was totally caught off-guard and gave him a very genuine smile and “thank you.” He responded with “no problem” and I trotted back across the street to put the sticker on my curbside window.

This small gesture seriously made my afternoon. This guy wasn’t hitting on me (he was almost old enough to be my dad and drove a mini-van), he was just being genuinely NICE. I hate that word, “nice,” but really, that’s what he was. It was so much more meaningful than the man I passed a block later who offered, “hey cutie, you’re so beautiful” as I walked by.

I was instantly convicted. I guarantee that was the best $3.00 he spent on a rainy Thursday afternoon in downtown Seattle. How many times a day do I let opportunities like this slip right under my nose and through my fingers? How often do I brood and harp on things in my life that aren’t going perfectly (or not exactly how I would like them to) instead of creating good things? We all have the capacity and the capability to do something “nice” for someone else everyday. Actually, multiple times a day.

Still riding my random-act-of-kindness high, I confidently entered Belltown Billiards in broad daylight and completely sober.  Let me tell you, this has never happened before and will probably never happen again.  I got a bit of a buzzkill when I found out that my sweater was not waiting for me, as “Ed” had promised me the day before.  But as I walked out empty handed into the rain, I realized that that sweater had been a gift in itself.  Just last week, Meguire and I got the thrill of our lives (free clothes!) sorting through a pile of clothes that Sarah, the mom of a little girl we babysit, was giving away.  I came away with two adorable sweaters and Meguire got a few great shirts for work. 

I really liked that black sweater from Sarah, it was classic and versatile and looked great on me.  It has now been lost into the abyss that is Belltown Billiards, but without that experience I wouldn’t have this new drive to create just a little good everyday.  And hopefully, little by little, that will start cancelling out all of the other things that crowd and clutter my mind and heart.