Day 164- Carol

After years of wasting my life away playing Tetris and Dr. Mario, I was finally able to put my skills to use today in a real life situation.  Um... exciting!

Let's back up for a minute.  I was straightening up the patio furniture at work when I met Carol.  She was a cute and charming woman looking for a small patio set.  Let's just say she's probably had her AARP card for a few years.  She was delighted to find a nice wrought iron set with two chairs and a little table on sale, but she was worried that it would not fit into her Ford Escort.  So was I.  However, I was completely taken by her, so we hauled the table out to her car to see if it would fit before she bought it.  Since cars were parked close to hers, I couldn't actually load it, but I decided that I would be able to make it happen.  I just had to.

We had the set still in a box, and it would have easily fit into the car that way, but Carol let me know that she was terrible at putting things together... even if it only involved screwing a few legs into the table.  "My husband and I, we could do anything together, but now I'm on my own.  He passed away a year and a half ago, and it's hard for me to do these kinds of things."  I pictured her toppling over with the table one day, her morning coffee spilling everywhere.  We couldn't have that.  I let her know that I would be happy to put everything together and then load it into her car.  I just had to.

Once I had built the set, I took it out and began to wrangle it into Carol's small car.  Another customer, an older gentleman, stopped to watch.  Apparently the scene was amusing :).  Undaunted by my audience and the task at hand, I Tetris-ed all three pieces of that patio furniture into that car and got all the doors shut.  It was a proud moment.

I was even more proud when the older gentlemen said, upon completion of the load, "Wow... I would have bet $50 that you couldn't fit that in there.  Nicely done."  I rule.

Carol thanked me profusely and said that she couldn't believe that I would make such a fuss over a little old lady and her little old table.  I was touched.  My two incredible grandmothers are widows too.  I want to be clear that I don't do these things or share them for praise or for bragging rights.  My simple hope is that by treating all grandmothers as if they are my own, I can put good karma into the world, and it will come back to my beautiful Grandma Katie and Grandma Ginny.  They deserve it. 

Thank you, Carol, you made my day.

Comments

Ashley said…
Awesome story!

p.s. I love how you created a new word... "Tetris-ed"

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