Trish Giordano: Pay It Forward

Trish Giordano: Pay It Forward: I did the dumbest thing the other day!  I was at the food store and, rather than haul my "50 lb. " purse in with me, I got my stor...

Pay It Forward

I did the dumbest thing the other day! 

I was at the food store and, rather than haul my "50 lb. " purse in with me, I got my store card and credit card out and "hid" my purse in the passenger feet area and got out of the car, pushed the lock, slammed the door shut and ....... MY KEYS WERE SITTING ON THE PASSENGER SEAT!!!!

Also, my phone was in my purse!  And, I realized to my dismay, that my spare key was ALSO in my purse!  (I had not put it in the house after having the car inspected!) Calling my husband would do me no good. 

I entered the store and went right to customer service and asked if they could call the police to help me gain access to the car.  The woman behind the counter told me they had tried that for other customers in the past and the police no longer provided that service.  One of the women allowed me to use her phone so I called the insurance company, with whom we have roadside assistance......if ever someone needed assistance, this was now! 

The insurance company gave me the name and number of a company and I asked the gal for another number just in case the first one could not assist me. She then gave me two more numbers to be safe. I called the first number and it went straight to voicemail.....oh dear, that wouldn't work for me!  So I called the second number and they said they would be over in 20 minutes.  I was clapping for joy!

Did I mention this was noon and I had neighbors coming to my home at 1:00?  I was feeling a bit under the gun here.

I went out to the car and waited and waited and waited.....you know how five minutes can feel like five hours when you are on edge??  

There was a young gentlemen collecting carts and I noticed he had a watch on so I called to him and asked him the time.  He came over to me and told me it was almost 12:30 so the panic started to rise within me again.....did they forget me???  I then was relating to the young man what I had done and he was so very pleasant and was greeting customers heading into the store and he then said, "Excuse me" and I turned to my thoughts of being deserted.  The next thing I knew, this young man appeared with a cell phone!!!!  He had gone into the store and borrowed it from another employee!  I quickly called the lock people and was told the man would be there in three minutes!  

I was so overcome by the kindness of this young man!  I told him how much I appreciated his kindness and I said to him, "now you know I will have to pay this forward" and he joined in the last part of my sentence, "pay this forward!" and we both laughed.  I told him I was going to write to the owner of this store to relate how kind his employee was to me.

The lock man came and in two minutes had my car unlocked and I was on my way!

The first thing I did when I got home was write to the store to relate what had occurred.

We are in such a volatile state these days with people angry, prices high, businesses under-staffed, long lines, hiccups in whatever you are trying to accomplish, the feeling no one is doing their job and we have to micro-manage everything or follow up ......we end up complaining, and many times, rightly so!  But this experience just renewed my faith!  This young man absolutely saved my sanity that day!

I have noticed I have not been as critical (well, it was only yesterday so we shall see how long that lasts!) and I vow to see the good and the positive from now on!!!

For those in my area, the store was Karns!