I had to take the cars in for oil changes today. Let me digress from the story just a moment to mention how great it is to have a 16 year old. No more having to wait at the oil change place or get some friend to come pick me up. Nope. I just get Kate to follow me down to the oil change place and give me a ride home.
OK, back to the story. Oil change for the cars is usually pretty uneventful. Today was mostly the same except that there was a lady out front of the store who appeared to be very down on her luck. She tried to talk to Kate as I went into the store to give them the keys for the car. Kate didn't really respond. When I came out the lady and I made eye contact. I couldn't really ignore her so I asked if she was OK. She said, "No. I really need a beer from the store" (editor's note: there was a gas station right next door to the oil change place). I said I couldn't really help her with that and then drove out.
I thought about that lady the whole time Kate and I were out doing errands waiting for the car to be done. I said to Kate that maybe I should have bought her the beer just for the fact that she was honest about what she needed. I continued to stew about my decision to just drive away without offering anything to her. Then I decided that if she was still there when we returned to pick up the car I was going to offer her to buy her a water or a Gatorade. I felt pretty good about that decision.
Unfortunately, she was no longer in front of the oil change place when we got back. I feel kind of bad that I missed an opportunity to help someone and didn't think of the water or Gatorade idea until after we left the first time. Now I'm wondering, what would you have done?
1 comment:
That is a tough one...I think I would have offered to buy her a water or something else instead. Now you know what to do next time.
Post a Comment