It’s just a notebook – one that my kid partly used in some high school math class. Anyway, it was just a notebook with about half the pages gone. But it was my notebook, and it was missing for about 20 hours before I realized I didn’t have it any longer.
It contained all the information about something that threatens to occupy every waking hour of my life these days – a ranch renovation project thrust on me since the death of my father-in-law and the start of the fall semester at the university. That means, I get the calls about leaky ceilings, crew members wanting to take off for a wedding on Thursday and Friday and “are you sure you want black metal instead of gray for the arbor work? Think of the expansion tendencies.” My homework list from the General Contractor named Tyler is in there for this week, which includes deciding how deep the flagstone has to be in the entry way, along with the best prices for 12 x 12 slate tiles. And I had paper-clipped a few business cards to its cover, like the one from the millworks guy near Grove Spring. You know, we had to stop at the local post office in Grove Spring last week to inquire about that business’s whereabouts, since I only knew it as the “millwork place.”
Surely no one would have turned in a red spiral notebook that had been closed up in a child seat area of a cart in the parking lot holding pen at a Lowe’s, or would someone do that? Why did I succumb to buying a cartload of mums on clearance and fill that cart up so that I had to close my notebook in the seat in the first place? Where did I start on my homework list? I’d have to call Tyler first thing in the morning. All these thoughts raced through my mind as I waited to speak to a real person at Lowe’s.
“Oh, sure … we have that notebook right here,” said the woman who answered the phone after I punched “0.”
Wow! Talk about getting my faith in humanity restored. Talk about a Sunday morning sermon lived. Talk about another reason to head to Lowe’s and buy a cartload of hollies on clearance. But this time, I held tight to that notebook and never let go of it.
Just goes to show, what might look like a ratty old spiral notebook full of highlighted instructions and price comparisons not only was important to me, but someone cared enough to turn it in at the service counter, when it would have been easy enough to toss it in a trash can along the way.
For random acts of kindness, we give thanks.
~Barbara Baird
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Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
Yep, some times people can just make you trust in humanity again, right K.C. Barbie?
teebird: Yes, you oughta know about house reno stress … will be happy to see your finished project soon!
Paige: Wow … your mom is one lucky lady!
House reno decisions are stressful – with or without red notebooks!
I left my debit card at Kinko’s after faxing my unemployment info to the state of Missouri. When I went to pay for groceries at Hyvee, my heart sank thinking of someone using my card and faxing away at Kinkos. I went back, someone had turned it it, and nothing else had been charged to it.
Like you said, thanks for random acts of kindness!