I’m a bit of slob when it comes to eating. My wife continually has to remind me to use a napkin. (Napkin? What’s that?) Sometimes in her frustration she’ll simply reach across the table and wipe something off my cheek or chin. And that spot of grease that splashes on my shirt or gets on my tie? I’m the last to see it.
So I was very grateful the other day for a waitress who leapt into action and saved my life, or at least my shirt. I was having lunch with a friend and as I was working my way through my salad, the waitress suddenly plopped down a glass of water by my napkin. I looked up at her. “What’s this?”
“Soda water,” she said. “For that spot on your shirt.”
Sure enough, there was a splash of dressing on my shirt and now I had the perfect means of cleaning it. “Thanks so much,” I said, dipping my napkin in the soda water and moping up the mess I’d made. “Do you know my wife?” She didn’t but they were cut from the same cloth.
So here’s for those small actions that come along in a day and take you by surprise for their kindness. When you look at the shirt you can’t even tell what turmoil transpired. A prayer of thanks for a quick-thinking waitress. Amen!
Rick Hamlin is executive editor at GUIDEPOSTS.
