Saturday, January 29, 2011

Magic Moment

My first blog.  I'm a little nervous.  I hope it's not too banal.  But I've got to start somewhere.

I had one of those magic moments today.

I'm not sure if I can explain this so that everyone will understand, but I know that some of you will.  Imagine being at, say, the grocery store.  Your goods are being rung up while you get out your credit card/check/cash.  You pay, the goods are bagged, the cashier says "thank you" and immediately starts ringing up the next customer.  You are there putting your receipt in your purse, putting away your card/checkbook/change and the next customer is moving in forward  and you're feeling pressure to just move on before you get organized.  Ever happened to you?  Happens to me frequently and, according to my friends, they have the same experience.  I chalked it up to getting a little slower in my older years or the world moving faster. Whatever.

Sooooo, today I went early to my local car wash.  It's pretty chill there.  I checked Pearl in (my sporty Altima) and went inside to pay.  It was all routine:  give the receipt to the cashier, pull out the cash, get the receipt back, make sure I had sufficient tip etc.  A young man, 30ish or so, came up behind me and I  motioned for him to move up to the counter so he could pay while I got "organized".  He said, "No, take your time."  I said, "No really, come on over, there's room."  He assured me that it was ok to take my time and then we got to talking.  I commented that I appreciated his patience whereupon he told me that he couldn't stand being pressured by the person behind him when he was in line.  I just laughed and told him that I thought it was an "older" person issue and he said that it wasn't the case at all.  We got to talking and I learned that he is 32 years old and leads a stressful life.  Yet, he was still a charming and thoughtful as well as witty man.  We had a delightful exchange.  It was probably a 2 minute encounter and was magic for me.  Human to human.  Soul to soul.  A good laugh and understanding.  I'm glad that he's out there.  He made my day. I left with a good feeling and hope.

It was a great way to start a Saturday of running errands and getting things done.  This is the first of many blogs that will consist of moments such as these and also descriptions of places I visit and things I learn about.  Some you will enjoy, others not so much.  This is a personal journal that I gladly share with you, whatever the outcome.  Love.