That's Just...Sweet!

For a moment I felt like the guy from Publisher’s Clearing House who rings a door bell and surprises some unsuspecting person with a large check for a bazillion dollars, a dozen roses, and a Whitman’s Chocolate Sampler. But, who can blame them? If you’re handing over a check for a bazillion dollars the recipient can afford to go buy decent chocolate on their own. For that matter, the flowers can be dead, too. I wasn’t the PCH guy with a check, just Arby with a cell phone that I found in the park last Monday night. I returned it to the owner. You’d have thought by his reaction that I was giving him gold.

He wasn’t difficult to find. I called the programmed numbers in the phone until someone answered. I identified myself, explained that I was trying to contact the owner of the lost phone, and asked if they had caller ID and recognized the phone number. It worked on the third try. I reached the owner’s niece, who called her uncle, who called me at home. The next morning I drove the phone over to the guy’s house and gave it to his daughter when she answered the door. It was a 15 minute drive each way. And it was no big deal.

To me.

Two really cool things came out of the experience.

First and foremost, when I dressed last Tuesday morning I threw on the purple “Crocodile Dock” t-shirt that I received at our church’s VBS this year. It has our church’s name on the left breast. Over that I wore the necklace that the Boss made for me. It is a simple brown necklace with a small cross in the middle. I wasn’t consciously making a statement with the shirt. It just happened. When I walked up to their front door I was a subtle billboard for good works flowing from Faith. I handed over the phone, said “You’re welcome” at the appropriate moment, and left.

The second cool thing came the following night. As we waited in line to buy a parking space at Kaufman stadium for the Great Hot Dog Fiesta of 2009, the driver of the car next to us rolled down his window and asked the Boss if we needed a parking pass. He reached across the lane and gave her a free reserved parking pass. It saved us nine dollars for parking and nine miles of walking from the general admission lot three counties south of the stadium. We said, “Thanks!” He said, “You’re welcome.” Then he drove off and we never saw him again. There were nine cars ahead of us in line and ten more behind us and of all the cars there he stopped next to ours and gave us a free parking pass.

Too cool.

I do not expect rewards for good works. I do not do good works to earn anything. I was baffled at the reaction of the family when I returned the cell phone. For me it was the right thing to do. Their surprise at what they saw as unexplainable generosity by a complete stranger was for me a sad commentary on society. That type of help should be the status quo. But, I would be lying if I said that I thought these two events were completely unrelated.

The parking pass guy bought the Major’s hot dogs for the night!

I failed to leave a post last Saturday morning about the weekly Fat Boy Weigh In. I wish I could have remained for the meeting as I saw a new leader attending the group. I do not know if it was a new leader for the group or the regional manager that I spoke with on the phone. I have not seen my meeting leader in three weeks. But, I did step on the scale and learn that I lost just over four pounds last week. LAST WEEK! Last week was the week that I dined on a slab of barbequed spare ribs and ate cheesy potatoes and drank beer during the steak house date with the Boss. Last week was the week that I dined on ball park franks at the K. And I lost four pounds! Arby’s getting skinny. I’m down to 209 pounds from my previous 242. That put me over the half way mark. My goal of 180 is only 29 pounds away.

That's just...Sweet!