One thing leads to another...

I had a fun little experience today after work.  I walked over to the grocery store to grab a few things, one of which included a small plastic basket.  Upon checking out, the cashier started to put the small basket in a grocery bag.  I thought to myself "I probably don't need a bag for that, but she is already halfway done and, actually, it might make carrying it a little less awkward."  I took my few bags and left.  As I crossed the wide parking lot and had made it most of the way to the stop light where I cross to catch the bus home, I watched my bus pull up to the light, and as the light turned green drove right on past, right in front of my face, missing it by moments.  This actually happens on a frequent and consistent basis and is probably the ultimate frustration for me. 

Perturbed, I decided to break my anti-non-necessary spending rule and go get some hot chocolate from a coffee shop on the other end of the parking lot.  It was very slightly chilly, I wasn't even wearing a jacket, but it would kill time.  I get to the coffee shop and I have to wait  a few minutes in line and it is WARM in there, and I am second guessing myself about getting warmer with hot chocolate, but had already been standing in line for a while and I feel weird about just walking out.  Plus there was only one poor worker and I didn't want him to think I was upset about having to wait so long.  (Fun fact about me: this is my actual thought process and the reason I get myself into so many things that I wish I hadn't...I constantly worry about other people's feelings, but not only that I also imagine what those feelings must be and my imaginings are usually a huge exaggeration and distortion of whats actually going on and I worry myself into a frenzy when in reality, he probably wouldn't have noticed if I had slipped out the back. Yes, I am a basket case, and no, it's not something that I can control.) Moving on: I get my hot chocolate and head out, and it ended up being a perfect combination of temperatures once I got outside, in case you were wondering. 

Once outside I debate on whether I should go back to the original intersection I was going to cross at, or walk farther down the street.  The inconvenient placing of the bus stop means no matter what I will be walking for a while (another pet peeve of mine.  the stupid bus stop locations, not walking, I don't mind walking), so I decide to go the other way and mix it up a bit.  As I am strolling along, a person on a bike passes me, and he also has a few grocery bags.  He gets about a 1/4 block ahead of me and stops and I see that one of his bags has broken.  I watch closely as I pass to see if he is able to rearrange his groceries.  He gets everything except a container of juice into another bag, and he looks stumped.  But this young man is in luck because I just happen to have a grocery bag that is serving zero purpose, so I backtrack a few steps and ask if he needs another bag.  He just stares at me, as if to say "well obviously," but I explain that I really don't need one of mine and I take out the little basket and hand him the bag.  He once again stares but this time more out of incredulity.  He honestly can't believe I'm giving him one of my bags.  He begins thanking me and has a thick accent, but says that I am very special, and he will never forget this, etc. It was very sweet, all for a little grocery bag.  You would have thought I was giving him a kidney. 

I move on, but after he gets his things arranged he catches up with me and again tells me how wonderful I am and I find out that he is from Haiti and is studying English at BYU.  I can't understand 25% of what he says but he is darling.  This lasts for a block until I make it to my bus stop and we part ways.  Stupid me didn't even ask his name (something I am terrible at when meeting new people on the street) but it left me feeling great after having thanks and compliments showered on me for a block and a half and he was able to make it home with all his groceries.  I thought it was cool because there were about 800 different variables but everything lined up that I got to meet a cool kid from Haiti.  It reminded me of "Stranger Than Fiction" when a wristwatch starts a chain of events and eventually saves his life.  I'm pretty sure my chain of events stops here but it made me smile for a while afterward.  Sorry, this ended up much longer than I had planned. 

Things I'm grateful for:

Chance encounters
Tide Pens (saved one of my favorite dresses after an unfortunate run-in with a nutella covered banana chunk)
Roommates that keep tide pens on hand
My evil-genius boss who comes up with the craziest stuff to get us to work well together and we always play right into it and it always ends up being perfect for us
Awesome music that you forgot you had (I'm looking at you, Sherlock Holmes soundtrack)
Friends coming to visit and giving me a reason to be extra excited about the upcoming weekend (yay, Trena!)
I'm sure there are more but I'm exhausted so that's all for now!