good deeds ---

i don't get it --- i try to do nice things for people, including strangers, but lately i've noticed people are resistant.

yesterday - amongst the icky-ness of the bad day, i  tried to do good.

there is a store - maybe you've heard of it,  aldi's.  it's a low cost, grocery store - it sells store brand items at low prices.  to keep cost down the grocery carts are connected  together with a chain.  you deposit a quarter in the slot and your cart is released.  when you return it and lock it back in - your quarter is returned.

i stopped to pick up a few things yesterday --- BTW, i LOVE the house dressing they have.  mmmmm -- i could drink it!  ok, not really, but it is really good. anyway- i stopped to pick up a few things ---

yesterday was not the first time this has happened mind you --- but, after i loaded my groceries in the car and headed back to the corral to take my cart back -- an older man was headed towards the cart area to get a cart.  i offered him mine.  he waved me off and continued on quarter in hand. 

there was a disabled woman headed to the corral, and i again offered my cart.  this time she took it and held the quarter out to me.  i said to her " no, you keep it,.  have a nice day."

"no, no, no" she said "you take it." pressing it into my hand.  "you'll need it next time."

i took it, and thanked her and went on my way.

this hasn't always been the norm -- although it's usually the way things go - it frustrates me.  i mean really, it's just a quarter - i really do try to do nice things.

but like i said this isn't always the case.

years ago i stopped at the aldi's store in binghamton.  i remember having a lot on my mind.  and on the drive to binghamton for a doctor's appointment, there was a familiar smell in my car.  the windows were up, and the vents weren't even on - so it wasn't coming from the outside.  i realized it was the scent of my grandfather's cigar.  i loved that smell.  it startled me a bit -- my grandfather had died many years before, and he had been on my mind alot.  the scent disappeared in a few minutes.

i went to the appointment, and then stopped for some stuff at aldi's.  i loaded the groceries in the car, and noticed the woman next to me who had just pulled in.  i offered her my cart, and she took it.  she immediately went searching in her bag - i said "don't worry about it, just return the favor one day."

i got in my car, and to my surprise she opened the passenger side door.  as you can imagine i was startled.  she held her closed hand out to me and said "here."

i tried to assure her it was just a quarter, i wasn't worried about it- but she insisted i take it.  she opened her hand over mine -- it was not a quarter, but a small angel pin on a card.

i looked up at her and she said to me - and i remember it like it was yesterday.  " i carry these around in my bag for people like you, for people who offer a little kindness and a smile to someone.  i only have one left, it must have been waiting for you."

i thanked her, and she said to me "you look like you have a lot on your mind.  the answers are in your heart, you know that.  i'm sure you have someone  very special in heaven looking out for you, and they love you very much."

wow.

she closed my door, and headed off to the store -- i watched her walk away in my rear view mirror.

that day sticks with me -- i believe my grandfather was in that car with me for awhile that morning, and this woman carried a message to me.

so -- some days you are the doer and others you are the receiver.  sometimes you start off being one and you end up being the other.

i think as a whole society we all need to work on both being the doer - random acts of kindness, and more importantly we need to work on being the receiver.  people don't know what to do when some one does something nice for them.

have a good day --- look out for ways you can offer some kindness.  and if someone offers you  a quarter -- just take it! ;)