Good People vs. Grinches

It’s that time of year again, when Grinches start emerging from the woodwork, grumbling about the happiness of Others and trying to spoil it. We’ve seen them here, too, but usually there is a balance to it.

There’s that Santa story which recently appeared on TAH and in the media. It was touching and got a lot of media attention. Whether or not it happened is immaterial to me. It’s that time of year. But somehow, the grinches just had to come out of the woodwork. They had to dissect it down to the molecule, because they don’t really believe in Santa Claus, and they didn’t get the Barbie doll or the Daisy BB rifle that they really wanted, so they hate Christmas.

There’s a part in most of us that actually believes people will do what they said they’d do. It’s a moment when skepticism is suspended and you say ‘Thank you for the offer to help out.’ Someone did offer to do something for me and someone else, but I didn’t expect a free ride and I said so. In fact, he confirmed what he said he’d do with two other people. And then he welshed on it. Basically, he lied to four people. Now he refuses to respond to contact. It’s going to be a rough year ahead, but I’ll take care of it for the other person and me. However, this jerk should know that he is persona non grata. Yes, he knows who he is, as do other people.

Something like that can kill your perception of people as basically good. But there is a balance to it, which gives me hope, however tenuous it may be, that not everyone is like that.

Where I live, there is a good public transit system with buses available in my area. I decided to test it, because my car is not reliable at all right now. And due to this unexpected expense, the car will have to wait a while for attention from those hot Cuban guys at the shop.

The transit buses have a schedule which I can check online, so I ran some errands using the bus. And they are right on time! You have to be at the bus stop ahead of schedule, because they will be there per schedule. The drivers are nice people who will drop the ramp if they need to and they’ll give you a hand if you need it.

On Wednesday, the temperature wasn’t so bad, but the wind was that nasty katabatic wind you get in Antarctica and Greenland – nothing fazes it and no hill is an obstacle to it. I had popped on layers of thermals meant for skiing plus my showshoeing boots that I bought about 8 years ago. Those will take you down to -35F and they’re waterproof. My ski jacket will also keep you warm down to -35F. I was dressed for this wretched weather. The only place I felt the wind was going up the hill to the bus stop. But while I was waiting at a crosswalk for the light to change, this taxi pulls up in front of me. The driver drops the window and asks if I wanted a ride. I said I was only going over to the bank and that I had some errands to run. He said ‘Get in.’ But the bank was less than a 100 yards away, and I told him I meant to take the bus to run those errands and then stop at Aldi. He insisted that I get in, as he wasn’t due at work for a while yet, so I got in, he dropped me at the bank, and wouldn’t take any pay. Well, gas costs money, so I made him take enough for a gallon and thanked him. He works down in the city. Nice guy. I wished him a happy Christmas.

I did my business at the bank and went out to the bus stop around the corner where the wind was coming in really nasty gusts by then. The cold was nothing by comparison. I was there about 10 minutes ahead of the bus, hanging onto the bus stop signpost and finally, here comes the bus! The other passengers got off and the driver saw another passenger coming to join me, so he dropped the platform a few inches and I got on, followed by the other passenger.

I told the driver where I wanted to get off the bus. He said, “They haven’t cleaned that parking lot yet, but there are some clear spots where I can let you off,” and that’s where he dropped me. Nice guy, lots of driver stories to tell, too.

I ran my errands and then headed down the hill to Aldi, my last errand. On that particular hill, the wind flows in both directions. If you’re going up, it hits you in the face like a brick. Ditto, if you’re going down the hill. There are places where the wind tunnel effect rises, even if there’s nothing to create it. But Aldi wasn’t far, so I slogged on until someone honked at me from across the street. I looked over there, and it was that taxi driver again. He pulled over next to me and said, ‘Get in’ again, and dropped me right at the door to the store, refused to take another tip, and headed out to the highway to go south to the city. Like I said, a really nice guy.

I did my shopping. Oranges were 4 lbs for $2.00, and they are beautiful. I could not resist them.
I had the number for a reliable taxi service for local short runs, so I called and asked the dispatcher if I could get a ride, and said that I had a full load of groceries, too. She put me on hold for a minute, came back and said, ‘You’ll have a ride within 30 minutes, and I’ll text the confirmation to you.’ Good company. I will use them from now on. I watched the parking lot and in about eight minutes, here comes the taxi, a van with sliding doors. Yes, I kept checking the time. I went out to make sure the taxi was mine, and it was. And the driver? Well, she not only helped me get my stuff into her car, she pulled a Madea on a guy in a Mercedes (shopping at Aldi???) for honking at me while I’m loading groceries. Went off at him like a blowtorch. “Can’t you see this lady with her groceries?? You’re driving a Mercedes! What’samatter wit’ you??” And then she told me to put my booty in the car first, because I couldn’t bend my knees with all that thermal wear. She was funnier than a porcupine in a bag of marshmallows. I briefly wondered if she was a reincarnation of my Aunt Hattie, who used to say the same things. When we got to my house, she helped me get the stuff out of her car, and gave me her direct number if I needed just a short ride locally. I never had that much fun with city cab drivers. Must be the air in the ’burbs or something.

I thanked her, gave her a fat tip for being so prompt and helping me, and I left the milk and eggs sitting in the snow on my front steps while I dragged stuff indoors.

I still needed cat food. I decided to not wait, but rather, walk over to Walmart for it. I need the exercise. The walk over wasn’t so bad, but the wind was picking up. It was later in the day, and I didn’t want to wait. Again, I was dressed for it, but when I came out of the store, the wind had picked up fiercely enough to make you walk horizontal, and snow was drifting everywhere. I leaned into it head first, slogging my way across the parking lot, thinking about hot cocoa and chicken soup, and as I’m muttering curses under my breath at Shu, the Egyptian Weather God, I hear this voice saying “Ma’am, do you need a ride?” I looked around, and here’s this guy in a parked car with his window down, asking me if I need a ride. I said my house was just a short distance, but he offered to drive me home.

He said he was just waiting for his mother and sister. Yes, I know: don’t get into a car with a stranger. That’s what Mom told me. But I got no bad vibes from him. I said it was less than a mile, but he still gave me a ride. I said my house wasn’t a palace, but it was mine. He said he was about to be evicted. When I asked why, he said he was a felon, he’d been working as a subcontractor on a housepainting job but the individual who owned the house found out about him and let him go. He wouldn’t take any money for the lift, either. I guess he’s trying to make up for his past malfeasance. All I could do was tell him he was a good man, and when he picked up his mother he should tell her that she raised a good son. Nobody’s perfect. I hope he stays on the straight and narrow. That’s my Christmas wish.

That’s my story: the Good People outweigh the jerks. The Good People frequently come out of nowhere, don’t do anything spectacular, but they make up for the jerks and grinches. And I don’t care whether anyone believes my story or not. It’s Christmas.

Oh, yeah: if anyone wants to send John Mallernee a card or a little gift, I’m sure he’d appreciate it. He likes shortbread cookies. I sent Jonn his mailing address. He’s kind of housebound since his back surgery, so I don’t think he gets out a lot.

Those are cat show ribbons on my Christmas tree. The cats would destroy the other ornaments, but they leave the ribbons alone.

Merry Christmas.

Category: Who knows