Thursday, January 23, 2014

The ride, and faith restored in humanity

WE FOCUS ON the negative a lot. For all the Richard Shermans and dumb people of the world, really, there are more important things.

This morning Sheryl had a doctor's appointment in Hannibal. We have one car, and we live about a mile from the store. Her visit was running longer than expected (really?) and the store opens at 10.

So I started walking. I don't mind the cold, and normally it's a very pleasant stroll through Calftown. But our wind is straight out of the north right now and my cheeks were numb within five minutes. Actually, they started burning. That's when you know it's really cold.

So I'm sucking it up and putting my head down when a car rolls up next to me. I peer in and it's an older gentleman, and he's motioning me to get inside.

In Quincy, in Calftown, I like to think this is a safe thing to do. And I couldn't feel my face. So I got in.

His name was Bill. "Too cold to be walking on a morning like this. Where ya headed?" Downtown. "That's where I'm going," he said.

We chatted for a few minutes. He told me about his wife, the bitter cold, driving in the snow. He was intrigued by the store and said he used to hang out at a place called Ham's Music. Suddenly I was at Fifth and Maine - with a customer and the UPS guy waiting.

It was a small thing, getting a ride. But it's the small things that count and make you smile.

God bless you, Bill. You help restore my faith in humanity, one short ride at a time.

1 comment:

  1. I am very thankful you got to the store safe and kinda not cold.

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