The Kindness of Strangers

Now that the release of Bad Girl is out of the way, I can concentrate on a subject I've been wanting to blog about for nearly a week. The problem is the subject is complicated, and I've been too scattered to focus enough to attempt it.

As an example, let me tell you about my morning.

I'm still taking the bus although my car will be ready on Friday (thank you, Jesus). Today was a perfect example of how featherbrained I've been recently...and of how kind people can be to perfect strangers.

I was coasting along on cruise control this morning. Even though it was raining outside, I wasn't concerned because I had an offer of a ride. The only problem was my ride didn't show.

A quick call to my next-door neighbor solved the problem. She drove me to the bus stop. I got out of her car, saw a bus with my number on its side, and scrambled aboard. I settled down to listen to the morning news on my Walkman while reading a novel. I didn't notice anything was amiss until an elderly lady tapped me on the shoulder. "He's going to the garage, dear. You need to get off."

I looked up to realize that I'd spent twenty minutes on a bus going in the wrong direction--even though it had been pointed in the correct direction when I climbed on. I was the only person left on board.

I ran forward to confer with the driver. He advised that I could get off at the stop with the elderly woman, and a bus would eventually pick me up.

My crestfallen expression must have piqued his innate Good Samaritan because he looked at his watch and said, "Sit down. I'll get you straight."

I gotta tell you...it's going to take a lot more than a bus ride to get me straight, but I appreciated his willingness to try :)

[Editorial Note: I just got an email offline that prompted me to re-read this post. No, people, I was NOT coming out of the closet. I am not gay (Now I sound like Senator Craig). I was trying--and obviously failing--to be humorous]

He roared off, and it quickly became apparent that his plan was to overtake the next bus going in the right direction. He got on his radio. I couldn't understand a word of the conversation, but apparently other buses were telling him either where they were or where the right bus was because, five minutes later, he pulled in front of another bus and said, "Here you go."

The kindness of strangers. I shook hands with him and wished him well. We parted, both feeling good--he for having done a good deed, and me because I was back on track. Who doesn't like starting the day with a blessing?

Tomorrow we'll talk about my old friend Andrew Burt and what's he's up to these days.