A Teachable Moment

We have been blessed with numerous beautifully perfect autumn days the last few weeks. Each day is beautiful and perfect for being out in my chair, in the community and doing things I like to do. I think I am beginning to let my guard down, beginning to have faith that if I do, there will be no sucker punch . It's just beginning to feel like maybe no sucker.

Friday was beautiful of course and I spent the morning goofing around the house before getting ready for Wellness. I almost went in early having some errands to do before my workout but I dawdled too much.  Dianne drove me to the station and I was pleased to see I was quite on my regular schedule. I did my errands and still had a great time to kill before my three o'clock work. Therefore, I took the moments and wandered through Barnes & Noble on the excuse that I was doing recon for Christmas gifts. Friday was the 25^th, exactly 2 months before the great event.

You know as much as I should hate , big-box stores, and particularly big-box bookstores I don't. I really like Barnes & Noble the book mart, I feel good just being in Barnes & Noble, smelling the coffee, smelling the books and seeing the beautiful people which enhance the store. A fall afternoonin  Barnes & Noble is a fantastic place to spend a few minutes, on a rainy autumn afternoon or stormy winter afternoon Barnes & Noble is a great place to escape from the weather and just be for a moment or two. I even like to nod out sometimes deep within the stores stacks. Today however, I wandered back to the deli/coffee bar and just wondered if the cookies or cookie would be worth the investment. I had stopped earlier at Central Station and got a small order of fries at Carl's Jr. and felt since I didn't have a major lunch I could maybe justify a cookie. The Barnes & Noble Coffee shop has a very nice closed in baked goods window,showing all kinds,pastries.What intrigued me most was the cookies: giant “Dick, Jane and Sally”cookies. The price for these delicacies was two dollars each! I can afford two dollars for cookies I just don't know if I want pay two dollars for a cookie. So I looked and I looked and I look at the cookies. Somewhere along the line I decided I was going to buy the cookie regardless of the price a cookie seemed to be the perfect item for an autumn day waiting for Wellness.

As I stared at the cookies behind the counter there became an influx of people wandering up to the, and getting coffee and other treats which was okay I didn't want to have to make my decision to soon. I wanted to drag out my desire for the cookie. So I continue to look at the cookies not knowing that people were looking at me. As I sat back and let people in before me I noticed a small family: a mom and four boys all probably under four or five or six years of age. They're pretty well mannered I was impressed, they were cute not dressed stylish or fancy but in regular clothes, Tennis shoes jeans, longsleeved shirts under short-sleeved shirts and messy hair. Mom was also dressed accordingly the young upward mobile family out of Barnes & Noble being cool. I was amazed I somehow knew she would not even blink at paying two dollars a cookie plus whatever cost the hot chocolate was. That was cool after all this was Sugarhouse. It seemed this small family took forever to choose, and again that's cool, I was in no hurry. But finally the got their treasures and white wax paper handies and migrated to some empty tables not far from the dinosaur book section. I had made my decision  and it was time to order. Two dollars a cookie unbelievable! I can't think of the cost I just got a do it.

“ I'll have that macadamia nut cookie”, I said trying not to think of the price but trying to act cool. I had already fished out my wallet so I would not have to spend time rummaging through my backpack. I had the change I was ready when the sales girl said something like,” this is already been paid for”.

You know how in the fast pace of life, things happen to get said and no one pays much attention to, sometimes it seems the verbiage is just the lubricant of social interactions. But I had stopped to think and still with my wallet open and my hand ready to dig out dollars I asked again,” two dollars is that correct?”

“ This cookie is already been paid for” the salesgirl said again.

“ Who paid for this?” I said trying not to sound offensive or offended but curious then I realized it must be the lady with four boys. In a few brief seconds I had a major thought storm of how to handle this situation. A few months earlier someone had purchased my lunch, unbeknownst to me, and I'm not above accepting a free lunch now and then, but at the same time I must resist falling from my realms dignity.' I quickly came to resolve,' except the gift you fool this is a two dollar cookie!'

I called over to the small family and thank them for the cookie and the mom said " You're welcome.

I was amazed at how huge this cookie was. This probably was a two dollar cookie of value. Had I been smart I would've purchased a hot cocoa/coffee to go along the cookie but I did not. The cookie was free and I wanted to keep it that way.. As a munched on my cookie I thought about the counter. Was I somebodies teaching moment for the day, and upper-middle-class mom sure your kids be nice to the disabled guy perhaps worse be nice to the disabled bum. Why did she choose me, to look pathetic staring at the cookies behind the counter? Did she think I did not have the money, that I was one those people, pathetic people, who frequent places like Barnes & Noble to get out of the cold or other pieces of ugly weather? You know those hobos that have to take a break from the corners are standing on with their cardboard sign, we wander into Barnes & Noble to use the facilities and watch how other people live for a brief moment it may be spent a few of the hard begged dollars? Or maybe I was somebodies karma generator, someone trying to erase some bad karma. So I figured I'd turn it around and see myself as generating some good karma for myself by being the target of someone else's good intentions. To” roll with it” and doing some good in the world by allowing some good to be done.

The cookie was marvelous.