Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Earth Day

So I was talking to an older lady who was shopping in the paint department today. Her vericose veins didn't stop her from wearing shorts and flip-flops, but she pulled it off well and topped the outfit with a straw hat. She was selecting spray paint colors for her annual "spruce up" of her outdoor pots. She picked a pink and a lavender to complement the flowers she wanted for spring.

We chatted about plants we didn't know the names of and problems that we'd had getting things to grow. She was frustrated that she didn't know the name of the plant that she'd had so much luck with. We bid our good-byes and I felt pretty good about the encounter.

About an hour later the paint associate called me and said there was a customer requesting my assistance at the paint counter. When I got there my friend in the straw hat was back. She had brought me a pot with a cutting of her favorite plant in it and written instructions on how to take care of it. "Happy Earth Day," she said, "I thought I'd do my part to celebrate."

Maybe I touched her life by just stopping for a moment to chat, but she certainly touched mine by taking that extra step.

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