Thursday, September 20, 2007

Gift from a Stranger

Just when I’m about to lose hope in the kindness of humanity, that feeling is washed away by someone who goes beyond just to brighten someone else’s day.

I was wearing on of my favorite bracelets the other day and the stand-in receptionist from a temp agency complimented me on it. She looked like a woman with a great sense of style with her manicured ‘do, fitted grey suit, and perfectly matching grey hoop earrings. I said thank you, happy to receive the compliment, and went about my way. As I passed by the receptionist desk later that day, she mentioned how she has a great anklet that would go perfectly with my bracelet.

“Oh, really?” I said. “Neat.” I mean, what else are you supposed to say to that? “Great, would you like to borrow my bracelet?” She then went on to say how she has two of them because she thought she lost the first one, so she bought another one just like it.

“Nice, one for each ankle,” I laugh.

“I’ll bring the other one up here for you when I get a chance,” she said.

I said okay and went about my day thinking that people say stuff they don’t mean all the time, so I’ll probably never see the anklet. I mean, why would someone take time out of their day to take something to someone else they hardly know. How would they remember the next day? Why would that make the top of their “things to do” list?

The next day I had completely forgotten about our conversation. Our permanent receptionist was back and I was busy facilitating a class. Around 10:30 a.m. I was called to the front lobby. The administrative assistance said the receptionist from the temp agency was looking for me.

“Why?” I asked, not having a clue why she would be looking for me.

I walked to the front lobby and there she was holding the anklet, still in its packaging. She reminded me of my stylish grandma. Her hair was perfect, her fancy rhinestone flip-flops matched her turquoise shirt, and she held her wallet and the keys to her Cadillac in her other hand.

A smile beamed across my face as I tried the anklet on. It just so happened that I was wearing a skirt. I proudly wore my anklet the rest of the day.

I said thank you and she, happy with her gift, rushed off on her way to finish the things on her list to do the rest of the day.

4 comments:

KarenD said...

That's a great story!

Anonymous said...

That is a great story. Just proves that there still is nice people in this crazy world.

Lydia said...

Your grandma wears anklets?

Jill Anderson said...

Ha! :) Yes, she does. She has earrings, bracelets, anklets, etc to match every outfit in her closet. This is my mom's mom. She's a true southern bell.