Houston has been drenched by an almost constant downpour of rain everyday for almost a week. Today’s no different.
It’s been a big downer, literally and figuratively. This afternoon, however, I was quite surprised to get a little ray of sunshine as the felines and canines poured to the ground from above.
My ray came in the form of a well-dressed older woman walking into Barnes & Noble as I walked out. The set-up began thirty minutes earlier when I made the decision to leave my umbrella, jacket, and rain-boots behind as I made a quick stop to browse the shelves and grab some coffee. The rain picked up significantly on the way out, and I hesitated with whether or not to step into the storm with my new boots on. I looked at my car, turned back to the store, back to the car, and regretted my unpreparedness with each glance. I knew it was forecasted to be stormin’-norman all afternoon and night but thought I’d get out in time. Unfortunately, I heavily underestimated how long my “quick” stop would take. The lady noticed my dilemma and offered me her umbrella.
I declined and explained to her that my car was pretty close.
“Are you sure?”, she asked. “You could take it and then drive back up to hand it back.”
“Oh, no. That’s okay, really. My car is pretty close. Thank you though.”
I grabbed the loose fabric of my dress, clutched my caramel macchiato, and ran 5 seconds until I reached the shelter of my car. Once inside the Kia and out of the storm I smiled at how nice her offer was. She was willing to hand over her umbrella to a complete stranger and wait outside just to save me (and my “Fancy-Friday”-outfit) from getting drenched. Sometimes I lose faith in the goodness of people and lack of courtesy that happens so often in crowded cities, but not today. Thank you to her, to her offer, but most of all, thank you for being a kind, considerate, and lovely Houstonian.
