During an early evening drive around Bremerton Tuesday, I decided to stop by a convenience store for a diet beverage, and perhaps some chocolate to make up for the lack of sugar in the drink.
I stopped at a store that sells gas. Inside the store I did select a candy bar, then walked over to the beverage cooler, crossing paths with a man clearly intent on picking up chilled adult liquidity. He grabbed a six-pack of Bud Light. I chose Diet Mountain Dew, a partial homage to the days we use to wonder if NASCAR would be here. It’s partial because it’s a diet. I’m not sure most NASCAR fans know that Mountain Dew comes in a diet version.
Bud Light man arrived at the register, then I , then a guy running a finger of one hand through a collection of change in another.
Coins dropped, the man behind me whispered a profanity.
I looked on the ground and saw a dime landed near Bud Light man. He saw it too, bent over, picked it up and placed it in his own pocket. That’s how we roll in Bremerton. Abundance comes our way and we don’t quibble about how it got there. We just accept it and give thanks for the universe’s gift, hoping the witnesses will forgive us but not really caring in the end.
I saw the whole thing, though, and I know the guy behind me knew he was still missing one dime. I didn’t want to make a scene and point fingers at Bud Light man, but I didn’t want the guy behind me to lose his hard-earned ten cents. Actually, I didn’t know if it was hard-earned. Maybe he found it, or took it from a kid. I had to assume the best, though. So I pulled a dime out of my own pocket and gave it to him. He used all the change he had to buy gasoline, probably about a buck and a half’s worth from what I could see. I’m guessing he made it home on that. He thanked me once as I gave him the dime and again as I left.
It’s a win for everyone. Bud Light man gets his sixer for a dime less than advertised. The guy behind me recovered what he lost. I got something to pat myself on the back and brag about, important to anyone who thinks a 17 on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory is about right.
I think you are a trained observer – and would have been an excellent witness had you have reported the thievery.
The thoughtful kindness of giving the gentleman your dime makes me wonder how many of us would have made the connection of the dimes importance to the fellow who lost it …?
I likely would not have made the connection, sorry to say.
Thanks …Sharon O’Hara
It was a nice save which diffused the situation on all sides.