“Oh no!” He wanted to kick himself. He had just taken some bags of ice and some charcoal briquettes out of the cart and loaded them into the back of his truck. He’d been careless though and the wind had taken the empty cart and slammed it into a nearby van.
“Well, paint jobs are pretty tough these days and the carts are plastic. Maybe it will be okay,” he was thinking hopefully as he stashed the wayward cart and went to look at the van. “Shit.” There it was, and at this angle, you could see it clearly. A small dent on the driver’s door of this very pristine van.
He looked around for some paper in his truck to write a note. He found the paper, and a pen, but as luck would have it the ink was dry. “Well, it’s windy as hell anyway; a piece of paper is not going to stay under a windshield wiper for long.
Sometimes you make little decisions because they are the right things to do. It is funny how fate, or God, likes to play with those little decisions and turn them into something much bigger. In a hack novel, there would be a sentence starting with something like “little did he know…”
“I could drive off,” he thought. “Know one would know. Besides, it was the wind. An act of God.” But then he thought about how much that would aggravate him if that happened. That’s called empathy.
So, back into the store he trudged. There were a fair number of people at the self checkouts and he wasn’t about to ask them one by one. “Does anyone here have a blue mini-van?” He reasoned that if no one answered he would leave a note with the store manager. Done and dusted. Duty done. Honor preserved. In the event that they actually called him, it was a small dent and he would offer to pay to have it fixed. He could afford it. Ethics are easier when you are financially secure.
He wasn’t sure what he’d find. Maybe this was a bad idea. What if it were some psycho? A tallish woman in her mid-forties stepped forward and said, “I do.”
He explained what happened; she said it was probably nothing. “If you have a minute, I’m almost done checking out. We can look at it together.”
He thought about the ice in the back of his truck, but he was in too deep now. “Sure.”
He didn’t want to be creepy, so he gave her some space and waited by the front door. He had noticed that she had a friendly smile, which made him relax a bit. She came out with her own cart, and they went to look at the van. “Oh, that’s nothing.”
It was absolutely positively NOT nothing. The sun had come out, and now it stood out like a sore thumb. “It’s gonna get dented anyway. What a nice man you are to come in and find me.” Now the smile was coming from her eyes. “Most people would have driven off.”
Right then and there, they each made simultaneous, independent decisions: that they had just met someone kind, that was worth knowing.
“That’s a lot of ice. You had better get it home before it melts.”
“Yeah, I had better. Having a big barbecue tomorrow. Trying to meet my neighbors.” He held his breath.
“That sounds like fun. The weather should be nice.” She held her breath.
“I’m Ted.” She exhaled.
“I’m Janet.” He exhaled.
She unlocked her phone and handed it to him. He punched in his number, then made a contact entry with his number and address. She took her phone back and texted him. “Now you have my number.” She held her breath.
He pulled out his own phone and returned her text “Wanna come to a barbecue tomorrow?” He held his breath.
She texted back. “I’d love to.”
They both exhaled.
“Okay then see you tomorrow,” he said.
“You betcha.” And with that they both drove off.
And so, she did see him the next day. And she stayed long after everyone else had left.
Little did he know…
© Glenn Keller Productions, LLC 2024, All Rights Reserved
Discover more from Glenn Keller
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
