I love my mailman and not in the cliche, "it's the mailman's kid" kind of way. He's a 50 something fantastically nice man. Here's the story to prove it:
This afternoon, after Ethan went down for a nap, I was trying to get a few notes written and addressed to get out in the mail today. I was just about done, when Marty the Mailman came up our walk. I flew to the door (sporting my ratty spandex, no less) and opened it. The following is our conversation reproduced.
Me: Hey Marty! I'm just finishing up some letters. Are you going to be on the block a few more minutes?
Marty: Sure. I'll park in front of your house when I'm done. Just wave when you're ready.
Me: Oh, thanks so much. I appreciate it. I'll hurry.
Marty: Take your time. How's the little one?
Me: He's great! I'm sending out his latest picture. Here it is. (showing him the picture)
Marty: Awwww. He's getting so big.
Me: I know. I can hardly believe he's almost 7 months.
Marty: Well, you get inside. I'll pull up to the house. Just wave when you're done and I'll come grab the letters.
Me: Thanks!
Two minutes later and with a big sweater and the closest shoes to the door on, I ran out with letters in hand.
Marty: You didn't need to come out. I said I'd come get them.
Me: No problem. Thanks again for waiting.
Marty: Sure. Here are some mints I got at the car dealership.
Me: Oh, OK. Thanks. (This was an odd gesture, but cute. Don't worry, they were wrapped.)
Marty: And, by the way, you didn't have to give me nothing for Christmas.
Me: (Letting the bad grammar go...) Of course we did. We appreciate you walking in the cold!
Marty: Well, you take care.
Me: You too. Thanks. Stay warm!
How fantastic is my mailman?
This story reminds me of another one I meant to post about an experience at Trader Joe's this past weekend. I made the mistake of going during the day on Saturday. The place was JAMMED and every register had a long line full of people with carts filled to the brim. All I needed was a bottle of wine. I had time, though, so I waited. While in line, a young mother in the line next to me, who had her small baby and husband with her, walked over and told me to please go in front of them. She said, "You just have the one thing. Why don't you go in front of us." I replied, "Oh, are you sure? Thanks so much!" I thanked them about three more times before leaving and just felt so good when I left. I even got a little teary-eyed.
Now, it is a sad, sad world if these small acts of kindness make me so happy. Shouldn't events such as these be commonplace? The truth is they're not. Many people are in too big of a hurry to think of others. We are all guilty of this sometimes, myself included. But think how nice it would be if more people were like Marty the Mailman or this young woman at the grocery store. I guess if these events were commonplace, though, we would take them for granted. I really do believe that the kindness you give does come back to you, and I'm grateful for these experiences that remind me to be a little more kind myself.
Ethan the frog wonders, what kind thing have you done for someone else this week?
This afternoon, after Ethan went down for a nap, I was trying to get a few notes written and addressed to get out in the mail today. I was just about done, when Marty the Mailman came up our walk. I flew to the door (sporting my ratty spandex, no less) and opened it. The following is our conversation reproduced.
Me: Hey Marty! I'm just finishing up some letters. Are you going to be on the block a few more minutes?
Marty: Sure. I'll park in front of your house when I'm done. Just wave when you're ready.
Me: Oh, thanks so much. I appreciate it. I'll hurry.
Marty: Take your time. How's the little one?
Me: He's great! I'm sending out his latest picture. Here it is. (showing him the picture)
Marty: Awwww. He's getting so big.
Me: I know. I can hardly believe he's almost 7 months.
Marty: Well, you get inside. I'll pull up to the house. Just wave when you're done and I'll come grab the letters.
Me: Thanks!
Two minutes later and with a big sweater and the closest shoes to the door on, I ran out with letters in hand.
Marty: You didn't need to come out. I said I'd come get them.
Me: No problem. Thanks again for waiting.
Marty: Sure. Here are some mints I got at the car dealership.
Me: Oh, OK. Thanks. (This was an odd gesture, but cute. Don't worry, they were wrapped.)
Marty: And, by the way, you didn't have to give me nothing for Christmas.
Me: (Letting the bad grammar go...) Of course we did. We appreciate you walking in the cold!
Marty: Well, you take care.
Me: You too. Thanks. Stay warm!
How fantastic is my mailman?
This story reminds me of another one I meant to post about an experience at Trader Joe's this past weekend. I made the mistake of going during the day on Saturday. The place was JAMMED and every register had a long line full of people with carts filled to the brim. All I needed was a bottle of wine. I had time, though, so I waited. While in line, a young mother in the line next to me, who had her small baby and husband with her, walked over and told me to please go in front of them. She said, "You just have the one thing. Why don't you go in front of us." I replied, "Oh, are you sure? Thanks so much!" I thanked them about three more times before leaving and just felt so good when I left. I even got a little teary-eyed.
Now, it is a sad, sad world if these small acts of kindness make me so happy. Shouldn't events such as these be commonplace? The truth is they're not. Many people are in too big of a hurry to think of others. We are all guilty of this sometimes, myself included. But think how nice it would be if more people were like Marty the Mailman or this young woman at the grocery store. I guess if these events were commonplace, though, we would take them for granted. I really do believe that the kindness you give does come back to you, and I'm grateful for these experiences that remind me to be a little more kind myself.
Ethan the frog wonders, what kind thing have you done for someone else this week?
3 comments:
Nice thoughts and posting.
It's sad, I can't think of what I've done for someone. Well, I did donate one of my old carseats and some toiletries to some people who got flooded out 90 miles south of here this week. Our church was bringing the stuff down. but I needed to get rid of those anyways, so that doesn't count. I often get shy when i think of a way I want to help a stranger. The other day the lady behind me had one small item and I almost said to just add it to my large grocery bill, but I got all nervous and wimped out. I want to do things, but like I said, I just get shy. But I shouldn't because it's so appreciated when people help or do something nice spontenously. Like the lady who bought $10 worth of children's medicine for me when I couldn't find my wallet.
The only thing I can think of is taking a cart that was left in the Jewel parking lot in to do my shopping. I get so mad when people don't put their cart in the corrals. I at least hope it was nice for the person that had to go collect the carts during the sub-zero windchills this weekend. I need to work on my random acts of kindness.
So sweet-our mailman is the same way (and he tolerates our dogs who are ALWAYS out during the summer. He doesn't mind when my Boston jumps up for kisses as we're horrified)
We do need more random acts, and I TOTALLY get that tears-in-the-eye thing because someone did one for you! At Costco this weekend, a very old woman was trying to get in without a membership card because a student gave her a gift card for Christmas. I walked up to tell them that she was with me as a guest, but they ended up letting her in on their own...does that count if I intended to do something nice? ;)
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