Especially when they give me a renewed sense of the goodness and happiness a stranger can give.
I got a bit of news this morning when I woke up that had to do with something I thought I didn't have to worry about. If you know me at all, you know I worry about things probably more than I should. So after waking up late (because I went to bed late, after I finished the first Harry Potter book on my Kindle), I got the email with the news and then of course worried about it the entire time I was getting ready for work. Granted, it wasn't as long as usual because I was also running late.
So worried me left for work feeling frazzled and a bit upset.
But thirty seconds later, I found my renewed faith in mankind and my day was much better.
What happened? What did I find?
There is a man, about fifty or so years old, who owns a little used appliance store on my street, on the same block as me. I pass his store every day on the way to and from work, and when I see him (about 2-3 times a week), I always smile and say hello, in Korean of course. And he is always smiling, just like me. :) He seems like a very nice man, and he works there with a woman who may be his wife, although she seems younger than he is, but maybe she's his daughter. I am not sure.
About a month ago, he stopped me on the way home from work and asked me if I would come to his house for tea. I said yes, but mainly because I forgot the word for 'no thank you' (ah-nee-yo), as it felt kind of strange for an older and strange man to ask me to come to his house for tea. Could he be trusted? I have absolutely no idea. (Especially after learning never to give a strange man a hug in this country because he's probably going for a boob feel of an unsuspecting foreigner instead.)
But today, as I was passing his store, he saw me and said hello, and then motioned for me to come inside his store. Okay. So I went in.
It is a small store, probably about a quarter of the size of a mini-mall nail salon. Or maybe the size of one of those walk-in (but not dine-in) Pizza Huts at home. There were all kinds of used appliances everywhere - ice makers, refrigerators (small, slightly bigger than dorm-size), televisions, water dispensers, gas ranges (very small - but that's normal here), washing machines (small, too), and many more items.
This man, who's same I don't even know and I'm sure he doesn't know mine, walked over to the register area and pulled out a somewhat large blue bag. About this time, the woman who works there with him came out from the back area and he said something to her in Korean. She then said 'lamp for night' and I said ok. Then he handed me the bag, and in disbelief, I said, "For me?" And they both said, "Yes." Wow. I was being given a gift! It looked as though there was pink wrapping on the lamp, so I graciously accepted it, thanked them a lot more, and left the shop to go to work. I was already feeling better.
I worked an almost full day today (which is normal), and left work around 7:45pm to come home and relax.
When I got home, I opened the bag to see what exactly was inside. To my surprise, the pink wrapping was not wrapping at all, but instead the lamp shade. It is a very nice shade of pink velvet-like material, with pretty pink beads on the top and hanging from the bottom. The base of the lamp is white with silver spacers and it is very lovely. And it is indeed for sleeping! The color that comes from the light through the pink shade is very calming, and there are even three light settings that I can control through a tough-sensitive control on the base of the lamp. And considering I have been meaning to get downtown and buy a lamp to take care of the horrible light that I have on my ceiling that I've been using for almost two months, this lamp is fabulous.
This man, who I am sure does not even know my name but has probably noticed that I love pink because every day I am wearing something pink, has given me probably the best gift that I have ever received from a stranger in my life. It is something I was meaning to buy myself. It is my favorite color. It is useful. It is personal. And my faith in man kind, although not gone but just ever so slightly in a state of decline, has been renewed.
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