Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Checklist Afternoon
It was a checklist afternoon. You know the kind, several things to accomplish and you work your way through them as best you can.
Deliver youngest son to wrestling practice. Check.
Drop off a bill payment. Check
Help in Symphony office. Check
Mail things at Post Office. This is where I was on my list. I gather the stack of things to take care of at this stop.
Check the P.O. box. Check.
Drop letter in the "you put this in my box and it doesn't belong to me" slot. Check.
Weigh 2 letters. Check.
Drop stack of Foundation letters, Christmas cards, and bills in outgoing mail slot. Check.
Package Step-Dad's early Christmas gift to mail. Check.
Package nephew's Spider Man pjs birthday gift to mail. Check.
While standing in line with my 2 packages and one letter still in need of postage, my mind moves to my next stop - the bank. Two checks and a deposit slip. . . . .
Two checks and a deposit slip? My mind begins to race and that sinking feeling comes in my stomach.
Oh, surely not!
I mentally retrace my steps. Perhaps I left them on the kitchen counter. No, I know they were in the stack of things I left the house with. Maybe, by some chance, they are still in the van.
I decide not to unduly embarrass myself by asking the worker who helps me with my packages and letter about my quandry.
I take a quick trip to the van. As I thought, no checks or deposit slip! Crumb!!!!!
I return inside the Post Office. My friend is working the end window (thank you).
And I begin, "Um, I think I dropped some stuff in the outgoing mail box that I shouldn't have dropped."
"Really? What?"
"Um, two checks and a deposit slip."
"Were they in an envelope?"
"Um, no. They were just loose."
She flashes me that look that those of us who know her are familiar with. It is a cross between a smirk of amusement and the exasperation of "Why do they let people like this out in public."
She asks one gentleman to go through the basket (the line is long and I know she can't rescue me.) He is familiar - our boys played football together this fall. I know I have met him and had conversations with him. I can even tell you where he was raised - New Orleans - but I cannot for the life of me come up with his name or his son's name. My hopes of "connecting" with him and him taking a personal interest in helping me are fading. . . .He only gives it a minute and then insists he must get the truck out.
Truck???
I try not to whine, but am not sure I accomplished it, when I said, "But what if my stuff is in that basket that is going on the truck?"
My friend matter of factly replies, "It will come back."
Yeah right it will come back! One check has "for deposit only" on the back, but the other one is ENDORSED!!!! Needless to say, I am becoming a bit antsy.
After what seems an eternity my friend asks someone else to go through the basket. I cannot see this person around the corner.
After a minute my friend says to the person, "No, they are just loose. Two checks and a deposit slip."
Please, oh please, oh please. I do not even want to think about the conversation I will have to have with my husband if these are not found.
And then a familiar voice says my name as he rounds the corner. It is the sweet gentleman who always gave me chocolate kisses when he worked the windows. He found my stuff!
I thank them profusely.
And I leave thankful that sometimes my small city on the plains is so much like a small town!
simple faith
It was a checklist afternoon. You know the kind, several things to accomplish and you work your way through them as best you can.
Deliver youngest son to wrestling practice. Check.
Drop off a bill payment. Check
Help in Symphony office. Check
Mail things at Post Office. This is where I was on my list. I gather the stack of things to take care of at this stop.
Check the P.O. box. Check.
Drop letter in the "you put this in my box and it doesn't belong to me" slot. Check.
Weigh 2 letters. Check.
Drop stack of Foundation letters, Christmas cards, and bills in outgoing mail slot. Check.
Package Step-Dad's early Christmas gift to mail. Check.
Package nephew's Spider Man pjs birthday gift to mail. Check.
While standing in line with my 2 packages and one letter still in need of postage, my mind moves to my next stop - the bank. Two checks and a deposit slip. . . . .
Two checks and a deposit slip? My mind begins to race and that sinking feeling comes in my stomach.
Oh, surely not!
I mentally retrace my steps. Perhaps I left them on the kitchen counter. No, I know they were in the stack of things I left the house with. Maybe, by some chance, they are still in the van.
I decide not to unduly embarrass myself by asking the worker who helps me with my packages and letter about my quandry.
I take a quick trip to the van. As I thought, no checks or deposit slip! Crumb!!!!!
I return inside the Post Office. My friend is working the end window (thank you).
And I begin, "Um, I think I dropped some stuff in the outgoing mail box that I shouldn't have dropped."
"Really? What?"
"Um, two checks and a deposit slip."
"Were they in an envelope?"
"Um, no. They were just loose."
She flashes me that look that those of us who know her are familiar with. It is a cross between a smirk of amusement and the exasperation of "Why do they let people like this out in public."
She asks one gentleman to go through the basket (the line is long and I know she can't rescue me.) He is familiar - our boys played football together this fall. I know I have met him and had conversations with him. I can even tell you where he was raised - New Orleans - but I cannot for the life of me come up with his name or his son's name. My hopes of "connecting" with him and him taking a personal interest in helping me are fading. . . .He only gives it a minute and then insists he must get the truck out.
Truck???
I try not to whine, but am not sure I accomplished it, when I said, "But what if my stuff is in that basket that is going on the truck?"
My friend matter of factly replies, "It will come back."
Yeah right it will come back! One check has "for deposit only" on the back, but the other one is ENDORSED!!!! Needless to say, I am becoming a bit antsy.
After what seems an eternity my friend asks someone else to go through the basket. I cannot see this person around the corner.
After a minute my friend says to the person, "No, they are just loose. Two checks and a deposit slip."
Please, oh please, oh please. I do not even want to think about the conversation I will have to have with my husband if these are not found.
And then a familiar voice says my name as he rounds the corner. It is the sweet gentleman who always gave me chocolate kisses when he worked the windows. He found my stuff!
I thank them profusely.
And I leave thankful that sometimes my small city on the plains is so much like a small town!
simple faith
Labels: Life
# posted by simple faith : 8:39 AM
