The Green Car

"Green car". 
"GREEN CAR".
"GREEEEEENNNN CARRRRRRR!"

And I spotted the poor Dad frantically running after his yelling toddler through the Dollar Store saying, "How about this blue now, or this purple one, here's a green boat?????".

"Green car".
"GREEN CAR".
"GREEEEEEEENNNN CARRRRRR!"

And I saw one, a little green dinky car.  I quickly called after the man and handed him the car. His face said, "god bless you, I think I love you, you're my hero" all in one look. He introduced me to his energetic son Owen and had him thank me for finding the car. 

I got to the check out line just ahead of Owen and his Dad. He had the car and just a few other items. I had a cart full as I so often do when I go to the Dollar Store. Stupid store makes me ridiculously happy because you can buy everything you want and still leave having spent under a hundred dollars. 

I insisted they go ahead of me to check out rather than waiting because Owen was now insisting he open the car before the cashier even rang it in. As I excitedly said the words, "you have to give it to the nice lady so she can ring it in and then YOU CAN OPEN IT", the father looked at me and said, "oh this is never pretty, he thinks he won't get anything back from the cashier".  As he took the car and explained what was happening little Owen's faced started to turn beet red and the sobbing began. "Why? Why did you take it?" he said through tears. The poor Dad looked exhausted. 

And then I heard it, "sir, we don't take VISA". 

The Dad looked panicked as he said, "oh no, my bank card didn't work at the last store and I have no cash, oh shit this is not going to go well", and he started to try to explain to his  already crying son why they had to leave the car with the nice lady and come back for it.

The explosion from the child was ear shattering. 

I quickly got a ten dollar bill out of my purse and put it in front of the cashier and said, "please just ring it through". The Dad insisted he couldn't accept it and I said that was fine then he could go to the bank, get some cash, and meet me outside BUT that his son WAS taking the car. Owen was told to thank the "angel lady, she saved us 3 times already this morning". LOL

It took a few minutes to ring me through. I really did have a cart full. I got out to my car and loaded up my bags thinking I would just leave, no matter what, I wasn't going to sweat ten dollars. I decided to quickly clean the front passenger side floor of my car where garbage often gathers without my knowledge. I figured giving them a few more minutes couldn't hurt. 

As I went to the garbage can outside the store I saw Owen out of the corner of my eye running down the walkway green car in one hand, a waving 20 dollar bill in the other. His Dad followed shortly behind him.  I gave them the receipt and change due and the Dad called me a life saver and had Owen thank me again.

I realize that ten dollars is a lot to trust a stranger with but it was ten dollars to save a child an unnecessary tantrum and a father his sanity. Whether they came back or not, it felt good. Perhaps it's a bit much you might think but still it felt really really good. And humanity came through in the end when I saw the little tyke running happily toward me.

Try this stuff people, it really feels good to do good shit now and again. Try more now and again, rather than later.

Perhaps this stuff will put the human back in humanity. 

If you don't have cash to spare, jump out of your car to help the elderly across the street.  Give away gift cards your given to someone who needs it more than you.  Gather your kids up and do a lemonade stand for charity.  It all makes a difference in everyone's lives, including your own.  

"READY ON 1, 2, 3, and 4. Release"l

For my entire life I have been afraid of heights.  My husband once took me to a place called Haliburton Highlands to look at a cottage.  After 2 hours on the road, the last 35 minutes having been spent on winding roads sometimes 3 stories up, he pulled into the cottage he wanted to show me.  I stepped out of the car and looked down.  The cottage was on a steep hill, 1 story down.  The property sloped down another 2 stories.  I looked him straight in the eye and said, "Do you have any fucking idea who you apparently love?"  And got back into the car to catch my breath.  

I don't like heights.

It used to be so bad that standing on a chair would actually give me butterflies.  I've advanced to ladders now.  God help us all if that ladder shifts at all unexpectedly as I will wet myself, then freeze and cry until the firemen come to get me.  

I don't like heights.

For 46 years heights have put a little panic in my step.  I have pushed through them to partake in air travel, even a helicopter once and a small private plane.  I took valium for each.  Perhaps with an ativan chaser good measure.  I have skied in the mountains but making sure only to chose the hills that are actual slopes and could not be defined as drops in any way, the ski instructor was empathically told.  I have driven over bridges high enough to allow cargo ships under them all while white knuckling the steering wheel, staying in the middle lane, looking only at the car ahead of me, and I might have held my breath every single time.  Thank jesus there was never a traffic jam on one *passes out*.  That has never happened other than in my wildest nightmares.

I have a mental illness called Borderline Personality Disorder.  Wikipedia describes the disease as also being known as
emotionally unstable personality disorder, is a long term pattern of abnormal behaviour characterized by unstable relationships with other people, unstable sense of self, and unstable emotions.  


Now I would like you to think of this irrational fear of heights and put the feelings I might experience into the perspective of thinking as outlined above and now imagine the impact.

Today I strapped myself into what basically amounted to a lifejacket harness, and let someone push me out into the sky from four stories (50 feet up) up.  I travelled through the air for a minute on nothing but a steel rope, for a distance of 2,200 feet.

I am not actually in this picture.  I took this from the fetal position. 

The people in yellow are all employees, and basically teenagers.  A, summer job could have been newspaper delivery, teenager had my life in her hands.  

See the little lines in the upper right corner, yeah that's the string they threw me out on!

I cannot begin to tell you how amazing it felt to overcome this irrational fear and just enjoy the moment. Today was, without a doubt, one of the best days of my life.   

I highly recommend it.  Not just zip lining, but staying right here in the now.  It's much less scary.  

I know you're thinking, "I am more scared of heights than you must be, there is no way".

All I did was talk to myself the entire time I was walking up the 4 stories, waiting in line, trying on the gear, suiting up and waiting for the gate to open.  I told myself repeatedly, "stay here, enjoy this, stay here, enjoy this, stay here, enjoy this".  I looked only off into the distance and not down, not back, just forward.  

And I jumped.