Good Karma

I failed to mention this, but the last few weeks have been interesting. No, this year has been interesting.

First off, I was re-acquainted with some old friends--one was my former supervisor at Target I hadn’t seen in at least 10 years. Then we go to the Lexus event at Dodger Stadium last weekend.

Previous to that, which I failed to mention, I played the part of Good Samaritan to a fellow motorist. Last Monday I pulled into the Valero station parking lot for my daily 64oz. refill of Diet Pepsi in my tankard. It was there where I saw a young woman, probably in her mid-20s, who looked rather frantic. All the doors of her black Jetta were swung open, as was the trunk. It was problem for me as her open doors were blocking the only parking space available. Shit, I thought. I’ll just part right here in front. I’ll only be a second.

So I parked, got my refill, and started to head to work—the Valero is only about two minutes from work. As I was leaving, the Jetta girl still looked confused. Knowing I was early, I did my duty and asked it she needed help.

Her whole problem was that she couldn’t quite figure out the jack. Ever see a VW/Audi jack? Instead of the two-sided scissor-type of lift, it only has one v-shaped lift. Strange.

At any rate, once the car was in the air, it all went smoothly. Hardly even got dirty. We exchanged casual conversation as I changed the tire.

“You know, I’m not the most religious guy in the world,” I said, “but I believe in being rewarded for doing a good deed for those who need it.” She agreed. Once the tire was on, I wished her well and told her not to drive too fast.

A few nights before that, I went searching MySpace.com for some old friends. I found a few, one of whom I thought was someone I hadn’t spoken to or seen since before high school. So I e-mailed her, hoping it was.

The night of the flat-tire incident, I got confirmation. It was indeed Mary, an old friend from my two years in Catholic school. We’ve been chatting off and on ever since.

Now here’s the kicker. Today at work, I was notified that I was no longer the writer/editor/proofreader. I was being promoted to the position of Senior Copy Editor, a promotion that came with a $1/hr. increase, or about $2,000 per year.

Good karma. You ought to try it.