The kindness of others

I stopped to get gas on my way to church. After filling up, I tried to start the car, but there was no power whatsoever. This is a reoccurring problem with our car. Every few months, enough corrosion builds up on the battery terminals so that the connections are broken. Andrew keeps tools in the car to deal with this, so I called him and he started to talk me through the process. As soon as I put up the hood, though, three gas station employees came over to help. One guy brought the baking soda and water, one guy cleaned the battery, and one guy taught me Spanish for dimples: "camanance." I was on my way ten minutes later and all my grumpiness about my capricious car was gone.

Later in the day I decided to go the beach. In summer, Miami's weather can be pretty variable, so I checked the weather report before I left. When I get there, though, I enjoyed fifteen minutes of sun before the showers started. (I was thus reminded that 10% chance of rain means that one out of ten times you'll be unlucky.) I tried to wait out the rain in the car, but after an hour I gave up. I headed home to deal with my laundry (which I dry on a laundry rack outside), where I expected to do a lot of rewashing. However, I once again benefited from the kindness of others. One of my neighbors had tucked my laundry rack under the awning, and the clothes were almost dry.

This could have been a rotten day, but instead I'm feeling pretty good about people in general.