A Small Gesture

So it really is easy to focus on the bad stuff all the time. But something happened to me back in April, I think, that I kept meaning to blog about but kept on forgetting. So, since I'm pretty bored silly at work today, I finally remembered and decided to share.

I still had Paulie (my old Corolla) and one of her "new" tires kept losing pressure all the time. It wasn't that big of a deal... I mean, 25 cents at the air pump every month or so didn't seem that big of an expense compared to buying a new tire. Especially considering I had no idea how long I'd still have the car, anyway.

So it was late one night, and I remembered I needed to get more air in the tire. I pulled up to the li'l pump, and started pokin through my wallet for quarters. Nada. So, irritated at the inconvenience, I pulled out a dollar and went to the gas station mart to get change. As I was walking towards the building, I noticed out of the corner of my eye small truck pulling up behind me. A kid and a dood that looked like he was possibly grandpa got out and pulled a bicycle out from the back of the truck.

My irritation increased slightly cuz they got there after me, but they would probably be in and out long before me cuz I didn't have any stupid quarters. Irritation went out the roof while I was inside, cuz the two customers in front of me seemed to both have problems that took five years to take care of. And all I wanted was 25 friggin cents to get air in my tire.

I finally got out of there and headed back to my car. Sure enough, the truck was gone... kid and grandpa had taken care of their air and left. But as I got to my car and knelt down to twist off the li'l air plug, I suddenly realized it was no longer flat. I double checked with the pressure gauge, and also checked all of my other tires. They were all at the perfect pressure. I realized that kid and grandpa had used the rest of their paid air to fill my tires, since you get a lot of air for 25 cents and I'm sure it didn't take much to fill those bicycle tires.

I suddenly felt really stupid and guilty for being so irritated, and wished they'd stuck around for me to thank them. But I imagine they might have been the type to be embarassed by effusive thanks from strangers... just as I would be. So I decided that if I'm ever in the same situation, I'd try to pass on the favor.

And not to be so irritated at small inconveniences.