Paying it Forward

Over the past few days, I have been the recipient of 1.5 random acts of kindness (the .5 comes from the fact it was Belinda's car that got jumped and I was just there to witness it). Yesterday, Belinda called me and told me her battery was dead, did I have any jumper cables and could I come to campus? I happened to be really close to campus and had some cables in my car, so I said sure. Now, mind you, I have seen a car jumped many a time (my own car 4 times - jeez, how embarassing is THAT?) but have never actually done it myself. I was taking my freind Todd to drop off his rental car from a business trip and he told me how which colors went where. So I get there, we hook it up, juice it up and NADA. Belinda had called Traffic and Parking (sheer desparation - anyone who went to Ohio State knows Traffic and Parking are the enemy most of the time) so we waited.

The two guys that came to help us out were Birdo and Kevin - yep, Birdo. Like bird that flies with an O at the end. These guys were the nicest T&P guys I had ever met. Had a great sense of humor, told us we had gotten it hooked up right, but that the cables were not big enough to power up one SUV from another. They bring out the magic red box, attach it to the battery and we are off!! Off to Bravo, that is, for a girls dinner and glass of wine. :)

Fast forward to today. I took little bean to the river for her swim...and she lost the her kong in the water and it drifted away. The river was really active today, and the wake of the boats creates some pretty decent waves - she lost it in the waves when a boat came by (totally mommy's fault). I threw stick after stick out there, but it had really drifted out - in addition to there being several boats out, there was also a decent current. During this time, I realized I left her collar at the first place we stopped to swim...and as I went to get it, some people were in a small boat, close to shore. I yelled out to ask them to get her toy (about 100 yards down river) and they did! Saved me like $15 for a new rope kong. They threw it to the shore, she dove on it and we headed back to the car to go get Timbits...

My faith in people is restored...at least for now....