I went to the gas station to fill my van which was coasting on “empty”. I had just dropped my daughter off at her local Brownie’s meeting. I approached the window to pre-pay for the gas when there was a sign that read:
“Please use the spring for the bills. Thank you.” Immediately, I panic. What in the world did she mean by “spring”? I looked all around the outside of the window, but saw no other way to hand over the cash.
Then a man lines up behind me, and I didn’t want to hold up a line while I attempted to figure out something that everyone else probably would know the answer to.
So I turn to the man and ask if he knows what that sign meant. I normally would never do this. I’ve always been too shy to even attempt to ask someone I didn’t know a question. But this time I bit the bullet and asked. At first he was as confused as I was, But then recognition crossed his face and he pointed to a spring inside the the tray where we were to place our money. The “spring” was in place to hold down the dollar bills. This is the precise reason I don’t ask things from people I don’t know. I was so embarrassed.
As he pointed out what the spring was for, he grinned. But it was a friendly grin – not a what-an-idiot-grin. Still, as I realized that the answer to my question was staring at me the whole time, I laughed and said, “I’m such an idiot. Sorry.”
His response instead of being nasty: “Nah, I would have thought the same thing.”
No he wouldn’t.
But it was nice of him to say so.
Another small good deed. It may seem insignificant, but the event still spread some good, some hope in humanity. He could have been mean about it or condescending. Instead, I walked away feeling better than I would have otherwise. And when we make others feel good, that spreads to even more people.
