Big High Five to the Guy in that Dump Truck
People are good, everything is awesome!
Last Sunday I ran out of staples for my staple gun. I really needed them so I put the kids — still in their pajamas — into the car and headed off for a mad dash to the hardware store.
I left our quiet cul-de-sac and headed out of the neighborhood. I was at a stop sign getting ready to turn left onto a busier road when I saw a huge dump truck towing a trailer with a huge bulldozer on it coming. Like a lot of two-year-old boys, my son loves big rigs and heavy equipment, so I waited an extra second in order to let it pass.
He oohed and aahed at it and then I hit the gas and positioned my car neatly behind the trailer. I drove, following it for a few hundred yards before the big truck’s right hand signal light came on and I could hear the gears grinding as the driver downshifted several times before finally coming to a stop half on and half off the pavement.
The road was narrow, so I waited to see if there were cars coming in the other direction and then slowly crept around the truck — partly for safety and partly so my son could get another look.
As I was passing, the driver hopped down out of the cab and came running towards me. He was a big guy with tough trucker tattoos, Ray-Bans and a bandana on.
“Just great,” I thought. “what’s this noise about?!?”
He was gesturing aggressively with his hand as he jogged towards my car.
I turned the radio down so that I could hear him. It seemed like he was pointing right at my face through the windshield. As he got closer, I realized he was pointing to something above my head.
“On your car…your coffee mug…it’s on the roof of your car…I didn’t want it to fly off…get your coffee cup…”
I pulled over, grabbed my coffee from the roof (it was still hot!), took a swig and thought: People are kind, the world is good, everything is ok.
Let’s go get some staples.
