St Thomas was a small town even before the advent of instant news, and social media. Combine the small town gossip mill with the technology of communication and people know about stuff before it happens. And if it happened to you, they are never reluctant to ask you about the details.
So yes we had a fire, and yes, every last person in St Thomas and surrounding area knows all about it....or at least know their version of it
It has gotten a bit tedious over the past week listening to one person after another explain how they knew, (the local radio station news feed, and Facebook being the most popular) and then quiz us about just how it happened. It's all done in a compassionate tone of course, and yet there is also a large hint of nosiness in many of the inquiries.
And perhaps for the first few days it was even healthy for me to talk about it. But now, 10 days later, I don't really feel like discussing it with any more strangers, so I try to politely deflect conversation when people start asking.
We also live on a fairly major road which was closed to traffic during the fire, and that leads to even more people inquiring if we had anything to do with it, once they recognize our address. This happened today while I was uptown at the windshield place getting a stone chip repaired. The young man doing the work recognized my address, said he seen a bunch of smoke last Sunday, and eventually put two and two together and asked me about the fire. He was very polite and as such didn't really annoy me, so I answered all his questions. Besides he was doing a great job fixing my windshield.
And yet, one more time I thought, when will this end?
Not yet I guess, because as soon as he was done I went into the office to give the manager his $79.99 plus tax, only to hear it one more freaking time!!
"You're the guy that had the fire?
"Yup"
"Okay, you're outta here"
"Huh"
"Yah, sorry about your luck. This one's on me"
It took me a second to figure it out, but when I did my voice cracked and my eyes welled up. And I'm almost crying again as I tell you the story. The very idea that this man, who I have never met in my life wanted to do something for me just because he heard that I had some bad luck. This one little gesture, from one kind person makes me want to go shout things on the street about the goodness of mankind. He reaffirmed my belief that although lots of people are assholes at some point in their life (me included), most people are kind at heart for most of their lives.
So I don't know yet how I'm gonna respond to his kindness, I only know that I'm gonna pay it forward somehow, and that I'm gonna do it in his name. I hope he doesn't mind that I tell you that he is Dave Zegers, and that he is the manager of the St Thomas GO GLASS location.
Dave! You are my real life superhero!! I suspect that you have no idea of the significance of your gesture. I hope I never forget what you did for me today. You are gonna be my inspiration for my entire 170 kms tomorrow!
'"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end."---Scott Adams
Love
Peter
So yes we had a fire, and yes, every last person in St Thomas and surrounding area knows all about it....or at least know their version of it
It has gotten a bit tedious over the past week listening to one person after another explain how they knew, (the local radio station news feed, and Facebook being the most popular) and then quiz us about just how it happened. It's all done in a compassionate tone of course, and yet there is also a large hint of nosiness in many of the inquiries.
And perhaps for the first few days it was even healthy for me to talk about it. But now, 10 days later, I don't really feel like discussing it with any more strangers, so I try to politely deflect conversation when people start asking.
We also live on a fairly major road which was closed to traffic during the fire, and that leads to even more people inquiring if we had anything to do with it, once they recognize our address. This happened today while I was uptown at the windshield place getting a stone chip repaired. The young man doing the work recognized my address, said he seen a bunch of smoke last Sunday, and eventually put two and two together and asked me about the fire. He was very polite and as such didn't really annoy me, so I answered all his questions. Besides he was doing a great job fixing my windshield.
And yet, one more time I thought, when will this end?
Not yet I guess, because as soon as he was done I went into the office to give the manager his $79.99 plus tax, only to hear it one more freaking time!!
"You're the guy that had the fire?
"Yup"
"Okay, you're outta here"
"Huh"
"Yah, sorry about your luck. This one's on me"
It took me a second to figure it out, but when I did my voice cracked and my eyes welled up. And I'm almost crying again as I tell you the story. The very idea that this man, who I have never met in my life wanted to do something for me just because he heard that I had some bad luck. This one little gesture, from one kind person makes me want to go shout things on the street about the goodness of mankind. He reaffirmed my belief that although lots of people are assholes at some point in their life (me included), most people are kind at heart for most of their lives.
So I don't know yet how I'm gonna respond to his kindness, I only know that I'm gonna pay it forward somehow, and that I'm gonna do it in his name. I hope he doesn't mind that I tell you that he is Dave Zegers, and that he is the manager of the St Thomas GO GLASS location.
Dave! You are my real life superhero!! I suspect that you have no idea of the significance of your gesture. I hope I never forget what you did for me today. You are gonna be my inspiration for my entire 170 kms tomorrow!
'"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end."---Scott Adams
Love
Peter
Absolutely amazing :) :) :)
ReplyDeleteGreat Story Bro.
ReplyDeleteLove holj
Love it! And the quote.
ReplyDeleteLove, gail
Tag on that...awesome!
ReplyDelete