Delivering the Goods

          In an attempt to get back to the positive side of things, I thought I would refrain from the typical rant, and complaint of norm, and reiterate something a little more enlightening. Who knows? It may inspire a miniscule spark in some of us. And sometimes a small spark is all we need to change the world. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

          Back to the topic at hand. I was in a discount store. Anyone in Ontario, Canada knows of this chain of stores. In short, it is a used item, discount store that has items donated to by local residents with a percentage of the profits going to charities. The store nearest me is affiliated with the Canadian Diabetes Association. A good cause in my book as I am type 2 anyway. Some pretty good deals to be had on an array of interesting items, and I do mean interesting. As they say, “one man’s garbage is another man’s gold”. There is a ton of gold at Value Village daily.

          So anywhoo. I was browsing through the items that fateful day, and was finding rather little to my interest when I spotted this young, college student couple conversing about a particular sofa that they liked. The “I love it, it’s perfect”, “would it fit in our space?” and “how do we get it home?” questions were flying. So being the soft hearted individual that I am (I am so, at times, depending on the people, lol), I asked, to where they needed to transport their perfect for them couch. Having a full size Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD pick-up truck with a full 8 foot box (no gratuitous plug here at all eh?) I offered to help them get their perfect couch to their new apartment.

          To make a long story short, I pulled around to the back of the store, loaded the couch, and drove it to the destination that was not that far away at all. Ten minutes at best. And yes, they drove a Honda “Something” that the couch would not even fit if you strapped it to the roof.

I helped bring it up the two flights of stair to their apartment. The couch barely fit around the stairwell corner and through the narrow door to the dwelling. To the relief of everyone involved, including me, it was, as they had said, a perfect fit to their new décor. Yes, new décor. This couple were furnishing their new apartment with hand-picked items from various outlets. A job well done I must say. They had pretty good taste indeed.

          To say that they were extremely grateful for my help would be an understatement. They thanked me endlessly. I did forget to mention their shock and surprise at my offer to deliver the couch in the first place. They were shocked, and surprised. Believe me.

After the couch was placed, I was offered some money for my troubles. I respectfully declined and explained that I recognized their dilemma in the store and had been in that position before myself. I declined the monetary gratuity and wished them well with their new purchase. They insisted that they give me something for me troubles, and I reiterated that It was not necessary.

The young woman then said, “A gift. Wait a moment”, as she raced into the back room, which took me by surprise. She re-entered the living room with a small cellophane wrapped box and explained in her natural accent, “I’m from Russia and this candy is a delicacy in my country”. How could I say no? I accepted graciously, thanked her, wished them the best of luck, and went on my way.

          The elated look on their faces, as well as their renewed faith in humanity was really my gift. I truly mean that. I don’t post stories like this for personal recognition. I really don’t. I don’t want it, I don’t need it.

I do it in hope that you people reading this may experience someone in a situation of need, and reach out however you are able to, and assist them selflessly. The world needs more of that.

          The candy was delicious by the way.