And I mean that in the nicest way possible. Last night I went to go see my friend Shayne play at The Landing beer garden at Hoyt park in Wauwatosa. I've known Shayne for a very long time and my brother Timmy played in his band Fadeback many years ago. My mom plays with him and others in a Christmas/Holiday band called Reindeer Pause. Last night it was just Shayne and Tom with their band Sorry, We're Open. My Mom went up on stage and sang a couple of songs with them. My Mom's friend Kathy came out to see her and brought her, well I guess it's her boyfriend, who I think I've met before but never got his name (or my drunk ass never remembered it). But he is a Dick. Seriously. That's his name. It might actually be Richard or Rich or Antonio or His Royal Highness Charles Arthur Wellington III. Christ, I don't know. He didn't show me his birth certificate. He was just Dick. We happened to go buy beer at the same time and he bought me my beer. It's was a 34 ounce Spaten Oktoberfest and it was delicious. I hardly knew the guy but this Dick bought me a beer. We sat and talked for a while. About sports, jobs, money, the neighborhood and just how we were feeling at this current place and time. We clinked our glass mugs together and said Prost. Just two dudes hanging out outside drinking beers together. And although this guy technically was a Dick, he couldn't have been a nicer person. And before he left, he threw me $20 and told me and my sister that the next round was on him. So this Dick not only bought me one beer, but he bought me two!
So what does this have to do with what's in my head? So far I've just recounted events that happened last night. Well let me tell you what's in my head. I don't remember the last time I did something nice for a stranger. Well, except for like hold open a door or another really small act of kindness that would fall into the common courtesy category. I certainly never did anything that would have a form of monetary value like buying someone a drink. I rarely ever buy my friends a drink, and I've known those people for like 10 years. I guess I'm the one who is a dick. But it really got me thinking - this Dick doesn't know me. Sure, he knows my Mother's friend and he knows my Mother and then knows me in a six degrees of Kevin Bacon kind of way. But he doesn't really know me. It's not like we hang out on the weekends and share life experiences. But that didn't matter. He just reached out and did something out of the kindness of his heart and totally made my day. I don't know if he truly understands. To him it's just $30 and I'm sure he's got enough money (well at least more money than I have). But to me it means so much more than that. It's like the Arrested Development song "Mr. Wendal" - $2 means a snack for me, but it means a big deal to you. I wasn't expecting that at all. It just came out of nowhere. Why would this guy that I just met spend his hard earned money on me? What did I do to deserve this?
Even now I still don't get it. I guess I'm jaded. I don't believe that there any decent people left in this World. All I hear about and think about is pain, suffering, the atrocities that mankind commits on itself, anger, hate and evil inhabiting our lives so much to the point that good is completely absent from the human spirit. And boy was I wrong. I guess every now and then it just takes a small act of generosity to remind you that the World isn't as awful as it appears. This World is actually a beautiful place and it is filled with beautiful people who would rather be kind to a stranger then worry about themselves. It's probably the most amazing thing I've witnessed in a long time and it made me want to believe in humanity again. And it was the stupidest little thing too. You don't want to think something like that can change your perspective or change the world, but it can. Everything has to start somewhere and the easiest way to do it is to start small. A random act of kindness can go a long way. I know next time I have the chance to surprise somebody with the unexpected or to pay it forward, I hope I will remember to do it. Because I know how amazing it feels when someone else does that for you. And to think, all it took was some Dick buying me a beer. An idea that's been around since mankind first walked this Earth is what is in my head today. Just be nice to other people and treat them with love and kindness. It's the simplest, most basic idea. What kind of simple idea is in your head?
- pookon -
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