First off, I’m not exactly a dainty flower of womanhood, and in my khaki shorts and purple tank top, I’m definitely not a picture of helpless femininity. And while I am 50, I really don’t think I look it - no gray, few wrinkles, still got my own teeth…
Anyway, today I had errands to run - starting at the landfill and ending at Lowe’s with a couple of stops in between. I dragged the trailer full of sheetrock and lumber scraps to the dump, paid my fee, and backed up where they told me to go. I lowered the back gate on the trailer and started chucking hunks of drywall and old plywood other junk over the wall into the giant dumpster. I knew by the size of the load, I’d be there a while.
But I wasn’t. Two young men offered a hand, and I accepted. They’d finished emptying their truck so they came over and began tossing my junk with me. Like one of them said “You’d have been here a long time.” But with their help, I was unloaded and on my way lots quicker. I thanked them profusely - I hope they know how much I appreciated their assistance. Even moreso because I’d forgotten my work gloves.
So I made my other stops, got some lunch, then headed to Lowe’s. Once I found a large cart (why is that always such a quest??), I loaded the prehung doors I’d come to get, plus I grabbed two other smaller items we needed. I paid, then dragged my cart to the trailer in the parking lot. How to get the doors (it’s double doors for a 48" wide opening) into the trailer without damaging the molding… I got the doors off the cart and leaned them gently against the trailer. I was getting ready to lower the trailer gate again when I heard a guy calling from across the parking lot “Do you need a hand with that?” Again, I accepted gratefully. He picked up the doors effortlessly, set them on the back of the trailer, then lowered them to the bed. I thanked him most sincerely, then raised the tailgate, put a protective cushion under the door frame, and secured it with a strap.
At one time in my life, I’d have waved off the offers of help, not wanting to come across as a helpless little girl, but not any longer. In my old age, I’ve come to accept assistance in the spirit in which it is offered. And I’ve offered it myself many times.
Nothing brightens a day quite like a good deed! And today, three strange men brightened mine. Thanks, guys!
