You always want to be remembered favorably
Not all of my Blogs are about music. They just happen to have skewed in that direction. But it’s my inclination to post events that strike me as interesting and this is one of them.
What transpired over the past two days gave me a nice little pick-me-up that I felt I should write a blog about.
On Saturday, I was driving around, running errands and looking for a place to go for lunch. There’s a Chipotle Mexican restaurant, so I decide to grab some tacos. I get my order, sit down and notice my phone vibrating. So I either just got an email or received a text. I check the phone and realize that I received a text message. I have it set up so that I get a text message if i get a friend request or message on facebook. I look at the message, recognize the name requesting the connection, and smile. It’s a friend from college! She was one of the little sister’s of my fraternity and dated one of my fraternity brothers. Then I start recalling the things I remember about her. I remember going over to her apartment once and noticing that she had a photo of a child in Africa that she was sponsoring. I don’t recall having much money in college, and definitely didn’t have enough to spare to sponsor a child. I’m sure she was in the same financial situation as me, but somehow found a way to do amazing things. I remember her being a complete Angel.
Then I recall another cool event that happened. The only fast food restaurant that was close to campus was a Hardees. One day I’m going through the drive-thru to get something to eat before heading to class and I notice her in her car behind me. From my license plate, it was easy for her to know it was me in front of her; I had a vanity license plate that listed what fraternity I was in. Plus I probably waved to her (I don’t quite recall). I pull up to the window and pay, but have to wait for my order to be made. I’m holding on to my change and realize, how cool would it be to pay for her order (haven’t you always wanted to do that?). So I ask the person through the window how much the order was for the car behind me and I pay for hers. I get my food and drive off, picturing in my mind, what’s about to transpire when she goes to pay for her order. It’s not until a few days later that I see her again and I remember her thanking me for paying for her order. I think she was late for class, so it worked out perfectly that she didn’t have to wait too long to get her order.
So I can reply to the text message with an “add” and have her automatically added to facebook. I can access the internet with my phone, so after I finish my lunch, I pull up her profile. She has a picture of her, her husband (my fraternity brother) and their kids. She and her husband haven’t changed a bit since college. They still look great.
So when I get home later, I send her a message on facebook, thanking her for finding me and sending me the add request. I also tell her how she made my day by contacting me and reminding me of past events.
The next day is my nephew’s birthday. The family decides to meet at a McDonald’s to celebrate (birthday boy’s choice). I ride with my Dad and we get there before my brother, his wife and my nephew. We’re sitting waiting and my phone vibrates. I check it and see that I got a text message because my friend has responded to my message. Part of the message is listed in the text and I have to laugh. It says, “…Still remember the day you were in front of me in the Hardee’s drive thru and bought my lunch just because. Always so kind, sure this finds you the same.”
You know how when you look back on past events, you wonder how you’ve been perceived by others. How cool is it that when someone thinks of me, they remember something thoughtful that I did over ~15 years ago. Karma has a long shelf life and has an incredible way of turning up when I’m feeling down on myself and wondering if the things I do make a difference.
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