Fantastic Friday

I know it's not Friday anymore, but after ranting on Thursday I'd like to take a minute and share with everyone how wonderful Friday was.

Often times it's easy to think that there's little good in the world. We don't get to see the kindness of mankind very often. Most people we encounter during our day are not happy with their lives and it shows. No one can be happy all of the time, but I firmly believe you have to make the best of your situation whatever that entails.

Yesterday I was privileged to experience the happiness of others in many ways. It all started out at preschool. I wasn't feeling very well and it must have shown. I had several well wishers and you know what, I did start to feel better. By mid-afternoon I was ready to tackle my day as though I had never felt ill at all. That's wonderful.

I had to go to the troop bank and withdraw some change for our cookie booths today. I usually dread going to the bank. I think a bank would be a great place to work, but I guess a lot of people don't share my sentiments. In any case, the lady who waited on me yesterday was lovely. She was kind and courteous and she even gave my son a lollipop. I know it may not seem like a big deal, but just a smile and a pleasant tone make a world of difference in customer service.

Then I decided to hope over to Sonic for happy hour. I know it's not the frugal thing to do, but I do it anyway. I ordered a small beverage for my son I would be picking up soon and a larger beverage for myself. Well, when the order came out it was wrong. Instead of huffing and puffing like most seem to do, the girl (on roller skates even) was very polite and understanding and got everything fixed right away. It was just such a refreshing change to have someone seem to actually care about their job.

After picking up my son from school we headed towards my daughter's school. It's about a good twenty minute drive between the two. The traffic seemed abnormally heavy, but I think it was to slow us down so that we could witness something wonderful. You see....we pass several places where homeless people solicit during the day. I always feel bad seeing such reality. I know a lot people think they are just bums, but I don't think anyone could truly comprehend the humility they must feel. I'm certain that nobody wants to stand on the street corners and ask others for help. So often I just see people drive by and look the other way. Yesterday was special though. There was a woman on the last corner we would pass and while I was stopped at the light I got to witness not one, but two people stop to help her out. It just warmed my heart so much. I know it's not a lot, but perhaps that little bit of help will push her closer to her goals of achieving her own dreams. One never knows.

After gathering the kiddos from school we needed to head to the store to make a deposit at the bank there. While there I decided to pick up a few things we needed and save some time and gas. I love shopping, but I dread checking out. I rarely get someone who will even look at me. I always try to approach with cheeriness, but you just never know. Well, yesterday I got a wonderful and delightful cashier and the bagger was great too. I left really feeling good about the experience. I even had a good experience at that bank as well. The teller was so friendly and so quick which is always a nice thing with three kids in two.

After the store/bank we headed off to Sam's Club to pick up a few essentials. My kids love to see the sample ladies, but I'm always reluctant to let them get the samples. Most people probably don't realize that the samplers have a quota they are supposed to meet. I've done that job and it's not as easy as it looks. I try not to try anything I absolutely know I'm not going to buy. Well, one of the dear ladies there really wanted us to take a sample so I explained that to her and she couldn't have responded better. She said that though we may not buy the items we see today we may in the future (which is true) and that we shouldn't pass up samples we would like for that reason. So....I let the kids each get a sample and I wished the sampler well. I don't care for people who just grab stuff and don't make any acknowledgement and I don't want to ever be seen as one of those people myself.

While we were in the checkout line I chatted with another nice lady about produce and we exchanged contact information so I could pass along some of my other contacts for locally/organically grown produce. It felt really good to meet someone so nice and to be able to offer something helpful to her.

The kids have been begging to go to Sekisui so we finally caved in last night and splurged a little. It's our favorite restaurant and we hadn't been there since Christmas Eve. We had an excellent server and a great chef as well. Sadly, our favorite chef left and our second favorite moved on as well. When we expressed our sadness to our server he told us he knew just who could cheer us up and he was right. I think we have a new favorite chef. The kids had a great time. The baby ate more than the two bigger kids combined I think. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it was just so great to see people truly enjoying their work. We left there with full bellies and warm hearts.

The last wonderful thing that happened last night was all about cookies. I had stopped by our cookie cupboard to get cookies for today. It was dark and raining and the gentleman assisting me needed to leave to go and get his own daughter so we rushed. Well, unfortunately we missed three boxes of cookies. I felt awful when I realized it because it was my fault and we're responsible for those boxes....so I called. The cupboard lady was so understanding and even dropped those boxes off for me this morning on her way home from work so we wouldn't have to go back out last night. While I had no reason to lie and she had no reason not to believe me, things certainly could have gone another direction. We could have done a super recount of all of the cookies she has their (envision pallets) to make sure our numbers matched. I guess I'm just so glad that she trusted me when I called her and she helped us out a lot.

Yesterday was a great day for so many reasons. I hope you had a great day too!!!