Waffle House Bargain

Rebekah and Dorothy (Reb & Dot) delight us from time to time by stopping in for an overnighter with or without their boys. We are conveniently located halfway between their home and Reb's family, normally a 10-hour trip. They are the most polite guests ever. They even travel with their own scented candle to burn in our bathroom because, as Reb puts it, "Boys are stinky." I doubted that a 7 or 14-year-old can create a stench in the bathroom worse than Marty's. "You'd be surprised," Reb replied. Dot nodded, and the look in her eyes made me a believer.

This time, Reb and Dot planned to overnight with us, but got a very late start. Although the boys were not with them for this trip, they didn't make it too far south before stopping overnight. "Maybe we can meet for breakfast instead?" they offered, "We have your quilt rack."

Oh crap. I forgot about that quilt rack. Reb offered it on Facebook for 40 bucks months ago, and I said I'd take it. I'd been looking for a nice one to display my great-grandmother's quilt. Our house is actually a little out of the way for them. Staying overnight is a convenience, but given their late start I knew it would be more convenient for us to meet them along interstate 77 in the morning. It would take us only a half hour to get there - no biggie. They selected a Waffle House and texted the address. Our text messaging in the morning went something like this:

Reb:  We are hitting the road. See you at 11:15.

Me:  (10:54 a.m.) Damn construction delays. We are stopped, of course.

Reb: (11:05 a.m.) We're here. Moving yet?
Me: Order without us; don't let us hold you up. GPS says we still have 30 miles.
Reb: Gotcha.

Me: (11:15 a.m.) GPS still says 30 miles.
Reb: On a Saturday? Are they at least working on the road?
Me: Don't know. Still merging.
Reb: Oh joy. Lord. We'll leave it in the grass by the parking lot for you.
Me: Sounds perfect. This better be an amazing quilt fuckin rack. <smile emoji>

Me: (11:26 a.m.) I have to poop.
Reb: Eeewwwwwwwhhhh. I'm eating. You shouldda done that at home.

Me: (11:37 a.m.) Finally moving!
Dot: Are you talking about traffic or your bowels?!?
Me: Does it matter?

Me: (11:50 a.m.) 8 more miles!
Reb: Waiting for you in the parking lot. Got an offer of $75 for the quilt rack.
Me: SELL IT! I'm only willing to do $40.
Reb: Are you sure?
Me: YES! I would do it to you in a heartbeat.

And this is how it came to be that Reb & Dot got $75 richer by selling a quilt rack to a creepy stranger in a Waffle House parking lot, and how Marty and I drove 30 miles in 90 minutes to NOT have breakfast with our friends, AND return home empty-handed. After exchanging hugs and brief family news, they continued south, leaving Marty and me waving from the parking lot.

Furniture sales - Reb & Dot's next career.

Resolutions Update: Community

This year, I created not one, but several New Year's Resolutions geared toward personal growth. Since the year is now half over, I thought it was time for an update on the most complicated one: make a difference in the life of a stranger. It has been fun! Here is a report on the first 4 events in the Community category. "Paying it forward" feels good and is fun! Most of the time...

Retriever Aid.  Earlier this year, I posted about the Retrievers. I wonder how they are doing now?

Gave Blood.  Kathleen's church sponsored a blood drive, and I signed up. Donated blood provides immediate relief to a stranger having a bad day - goal met, and free! But sometimes I get queasy while bleeding into a pint bag, and once I passed out. It's not my favorite thing. However Dad's final surgery required 100 pints of blood, which blows my mind. Adult humans only have about 10 pints in their veins on a given day. In my lifetime I will never donate the amount of blood needed for a single surgery like dad's. I had NO queasiness or other emergencies at Kathleen's church, and enjoyed home made churchlady baked goods at the recovery table. What a good day. And a special thank-you to the universe for the women of the world who bake for charity.

Tony's Tip.  Marty took me out for a wonderful birthday dinner. Our food and service were excellent. I had a question for the server, Tony, about Albariño wine. He knew all about it, I tried it, and it was delicious. Tony advised Marty to order a cup of their rib eye chili - he loved it! After reading the dessert menu, I asked him what's the difference between chantilly, whipped cream and creme fraiche - he explained! Tony cleared our dishes promptly, and de-crumbed our table before coffee. My chantilly-drizzled coconut cake came with a lit candle on it (cute!), but no singing (thank God!). We left an obscene wad of cash on the table for him and skedaddled before he discovered it.

Hydrangeas.  This week, I filled a Ball jar with blooms from my hydrangea bush and left them on the sink in the ladies bathroom at work. After heating my lunch, I passed several residents (I work in Pediatrics) leaving the bathroom remarking how pretty the flowers were. Between our afternoon meetings, Jodi used the john and afterward said to me, "Did you see the flowers in the bathroom? I bet Diane did that. That's something Diane would do."  I replied, "Yes, probably Diane."

Fail: One Sunday, I cleaned out the freezer at the office. Two weeks prior, I put an anonymous note on the freezer door, asking coworkers to label all their food, or toss what they don't want prior to the cleaning. Thankfully, most of it was gone/labeled by the time I cleaned the freezer, revealing melted horrors on the left side - a strange, orange syrupy mess. A box of unclaimed heat-and-eat rice was frozen to it. I scraped and scraped at the mess until a gleaming freezer emerged. I would have needed a hazmat suit in another department, but our freezer was free from biologic samples and body fluids. Several handfuls of freezer burned and unclaimed food went into the trash. The 2 expired Lean Cuisine meals, I took home and ate later of course. So far, this freezer endeavor was the only random act of kindness that I did not enjoy. It was hard for me to remain cheerful and I found myself cursing careless colleagues, ruining the spirit of the task. Shame on me.

There are 6 months remaining in the year to find more opportunities to make a difference in someone else's life. I can't wait to see what inspires me!