It started as a bad day. I engaged in the usual grousing about ice on the windshield, the defrost not warming fast enough, and the neighborhood critters reveling in the trash waiting at the side of the road.
This was ordinary enough. Then came the first appointment of the day. Good news and bad news was delivered cold. It was time for coffee, doughnuts and grousing to the dashboard.
It seems there were many at odds with the world that morning. The line in the drive-thru stretched into the street. Local radio personalities were nattering on about nothing, raising the blood pressure. “Quit yakking and play the music,” I thought.
I placed my order and made a long, slow plod to collect the grub. Finally, it was plastic to the rescue. Wait! What? “No charge, the guy ahead paid the tab,” they said. “Enjoy your food.”
The sun came up over the hill at that moment. Warm and refreshing — it was time to get out the shades. Providence arrived, welcoming and humbling. Thanks were given for small favors as a bad day turned into a good day. Someone cared.
This does happen. A simple, random act of kindness happens and we say “Thank you” to that one person who paid it back.
Perhaps, as this season of joy and rejoicing begins, we should ask ourselves the question: Can we do this better?
It takes little effort. Buy a cup of coffee, a sandwich or a sack of groceries and make the day for the service staff. They love to say, “No charge. The guy ahead, or behind, paid for it.”
Make their day special. Would it be possible to set a record for the most pay-it-backs in town? Maybe. We are kind. We are generous. We care. We can make it happen.
Orpheus Allison is a photojournalist living in The County who graduated from UMPI and earned a master of liberal arts degree from the University of North Carolina. He began his journalism career at WAGM television, worked around the U.S., and later changed careers and taught in China and Korea.
