Locks

 Last week I locked myself out of my car, (so I thought). Was at the DMV on Dobbin road, which is near a bridal shop. I went in the bridal shop and asked the nice lady there if they had any wire hangers. She said yes and went to the back room to find them. She came back with two kinds of hangers, saying they were extra big which was better. I thanked her and proceeded to spend the next fifeteen minutes of that exceedingly hot day, unlocking the car door.  Mind you I hadn't actually closed the door all the way. So there was easy access to the lock. 

Greatful that I could get the door open, I took care of my business then went the Wildhides Florest just a couple of doors away. I bought two intensly beautiful yellow lily's for  $1.50(single flowers half price all day until September). Actually,  I told the store owner I wanted to give the woman in the Bridal shop a flower because she had given me the hanger to get in my car. When I told the florist that, she threw in the extra flower telling me,  "oh yeah she's such a nice woman".

Then she told me about how the woman who worked in the bridal shop had gotten stuck in some accident traffic near the tunnel, which made her late getting to the shop. She said there was a man waiting for her to open up, and  he was extremely angry with her for being late. The florist said that the bridal shop lady, "doesn't take any guff though", and had to put the guy in his place. She then showed me the small red topped parrot who was busily sounding off in the back of the store.

She told me she had 30 birds, so I asked her if she knew of the Bird Rescue organization that my neighbor belongs to. She said no, but belongs to two of her own. I got her name and e-mail address to share with my neighbor.  Then, saying something about having to come back and treat myself to flowers, I took the small bouquet and went back to the bridal shop. I walked in the door and not seeing the woman at one of the desks, I yelled out "hello" silly and familiar like. There was no answer, but then I noticed she was sitting at a second desk, to my right, talking on the phone to a client. I laid the flowers on her desk, said thanks, smiled and  turned to leave. She looked up and said, "aw that's so sweet of you maam". 

A couple of days later, I discover that my door doesn't actually lock when I don't close it all the way. All I have to do is bump it with my hip, which disengages the lock. Had I done that, there'd be no sweating in the sun, no talking about Wildhides history and buying half price flowers,  no exchanging of bird information, no paying it forward, and hopefully making someone's day.

Some people would say that I wasted all that time, but from where I'm typing I think I might have gained some. 

e Linda Joy Burke  All Rights Reserved By Author