Paying It Forward
The parents-in-law, who reside in Wisconsin, bought us a brand new Craftsman tool chest last week, sending us a note that we can pick it up at our local Sears. Taken aback by this unexpected gift (for which I really can’t thank you enough), I took a few minutes to look up the dimensions of this massive hunk of hardware and, after running the numbers, convinced myself that it would fit in Karin’s car.
This past weekend we drove down to Sears, made our way to the ‘Pick-Up’ warehouse, and turned in our claim ticket. A few minutes later two guys emerged pushing dollies with our new storage solution. The smaller top box easily fit into our truck, but the larger bottom piece wouldn’t quite fit into the back seat even after removing it from the box. We were stumped, unsure what our next move was going to be. Then, quite unexpectedly, I heard a voice behind me say, “How far away do you live?”
Turning around I saw a man in his 60′s standing in the bed of his Ford F-150, with what I assumed was his grandson standing alongside him. ”We’re about ten minutes away,” I said. ”Well, load it on up here. I’ll be more than happy to follow you home,” he replied with a smile. After a couple of minutes of chat to size the guy up to see where his intentions lied, we decided to take him up on his offer. Sure enough, he followed us home, then shook our hands and refused any sort of payment. We even tried to get his address to send him a Christmas card, but he said that wasn’t necessary. ”Well then, I’ll pay it forward,” I told him. With that and a final wave he drove away.
With this one unselfish act my faith in humanity has been restored. Thanks to the kindness of one individual, I’ve been reassured that not everybody out there is in it strictly for themselves. Thank you, kind stranger.
