I Have No Words…and Then I Do

The new iPhone came out this past week.  Between the lines and the fights, it’s all just appalling – it’s A PHONE for goodness sake.  However, I am seething about THIS.  I can hardly stand the news anymore.  It does something to your psyche constantly being inundated with stories of “regular” people who are morally reprehensible.  Everyday we are faced with snippets of these people; whether driving in the car or standing in line.  People who behave extraordinarily bad.  Our society seems to be morphing into one that is inconsiderate and doesn’t care about anyone but themselves.  It breaks my heart.

Yesterday, I was driving across town when a large, white plastic bag, sailing through the air, headed towards me.  It looked like a flying carpet whipping around in the wind.  At first, I was a little nervous as it was large enough to obstruct my view if it landed on my windshield.  Luckily though it veered to the right a bit.  But instead of covering the glass it wrapped itself around my car’s antennae.  I was going at a pretty good clip so the bag held it’s form tightly, causing a vibrating sound off of the antennae.  It also looked like a I was driving down the road with a giant white flag attached to my car. 

The next traffic signal was in sight so I figured once I slowed or stopped the bag would unravel itself.  As I decelerated, I passed a shopping center with cars pulling out onto the street.  There were a few glances my way,wondering what I was doing driving around with a white “flag” I’m sure.  Once the car stopped, the bag drooped but stayed wrapped.  The wind was blowing the ends of the bag around so I rolled down the window thinking I might be able to reach across the passenger’s seat and grab it.  But with the seatbelt on I couldn’t reach it.  I thought about hopping out quickly and running around to the other side to get it.  I wasn’t sure I’d have enough time before the light changed, plus my destination was nearing.  While I contemplated all of this, a car pulled up along side of me.  It was a car I had passed.  I had just been trying to reach it when the driver looked over at me.  All of a sudden, he opened his car door, walked over to the passenger’s side of mine, and asked, “Do you want me to…” pointing at the bag.  At first I was shocked.  Someone jumping out of their car at a stop light has the familiarity of a car jacking, frankly.  But I smiled, nodded, and thanked him as he unwrapped the bag, rolled it up in his hands, and took it back to his car.  The light changed and we drove on.

I had been headed to a party when this happened.  I must have told the story 2 or 3 times last night with varied responses, but all expressed a surprise over a stranger acting in a kind way.  When we are so often inundated with poor behavior, it’s refreshing.  This man probably has no idea, but his small gesture made my day.