Small Kindnesses

I don't know, it's a strange day here. Turbulent. Windy, cold, not sunny but not cloudy, not spring but not winter either. It's nothing. Or is it everything? I had a steak last night, medium Delmonico with fresh mushrooms. Maybe that's it? It's been a day for small kindnesses, small blessings. My mother unexpectedly invited me to the movies when I went over to borrow a chain saw sharpener. While I was waiting for her to finish up the breakfast dishes dad gave me a pair of old work gloves he'd been sheltering, the leather kind with wide wrists. They were brand new. You could tell because they were still stapled together with cardboard at the fingers. New, but old. Like the movie we saw,The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. There's one that will make you think. How did they make Brad Pitt look so old? How did they shrink him down to look like a little baby? Twice! After the movie I re-filled the large $7.50 popcorn bucket to bring home for the kids. The middle-aged woman at the counter stopped me from leaving with the piled-up bucket. She was worried that I'd spill it in my car on the way home. She dug into the drawer under her register and pulled out a yellow plastic garbage bag for me. But she went even further- watching me clumsily try to put the bucket into the bag she said "Here, let an expert do it for you," and she took the bucket from me and quickly secured the popcorn. I told her that was very kind of her.

As soon as I got home I took Levi to get an X-Box 360 for his birthday, but TARGET only had one left and it had been returned. We decided to go to WALMART instead, despite my 3-year boycott for the way they treat their workers and the rest of the world. The clueless kid in the electronics section asked me if I wanted the one with the hard drive or the one without. I didn't know, Levi didn't know, and the assistant couldn't tell me why one was better than the other. There was a gansta-looking young man in the aisle with us, however. I didn't like his looks, but, as he heard the sales associate fumbling for an answer he spoke up and told me, in thoughtful, perfect English, why I should get the one with the hard drive. He said it would save me money and aggravation in the long run, because he himself had made the mistake of going without the hard drive. He even wished us well as we walked off to pay for it! I thanked him for his kindness.

Please understand I've done nothing to deserve this.

Then, when I got home, my brother-in-law Matt called to invite us to his house for the Siena vs. Louisville "March Madness" game. Shortly thereafter a friend called with a similar invitation. Twice invited in less than an hour! Walking into Matt's I was offered cold beer, hot chili, and I'd not yet even said hello. Siena, the local Division 1 school with only 3000 students, very nearly beat the best team in the nation. Nearly.

In summary: I was given a chainsaw file, a new pair of work gloves, admission to an outstanding film, popcorn wrapped by an expert, gaming advice from another expert, food, drink, and friendship- all in one day. Oh, and a great basketball game too.

Like I said, it was a day for small blessings. Maybe there's more of them than we realize?