Money Well Spent

Yesterday afternoon I had some time to kill before my Chiropractor appointment. Luckily for me his office is located on University Ave, home to many eating establishments, coffee shops, and shopping. Come to think of it, I think half the time I arrive early on purpose. I stopped by Urban Outfitters because I am in desperate need of some lightweight sundresses. The key word here obviously is need. It seems every time the seasons change I go to my closet and realize I have absolutely no clothes that are suitable for the current weather. Perhaps most of the time that could be a bit of an exaggeration but this time I assure you it is not. Tucson is HOT right now. Like step into a sauna and then add an additional heat lamp right on your face, hot. To deal with the misery you really need to be careful what you wear. Most of the time, I wear jeans for just about any occasion or season. I think I own 1 pair of shorts and not that many dresses, especially not that many casual ones. But I am quickly realizing that wearing jeans in the heat of the day is just not that smart and I could really benefit from a sundress made of the lightest material possible. So I try on a couple and like them one enough but I decide not to buy anything right away. One, because Urban Outfitters overprices their clothes in my opinion, and two because I probably don’t need it as much as I think I do so I don’t want to make any impulse purchases when times are as rough as they are. So I tell myself that if it’s still a ‘must-have’ after my appointment, maybe I’ll come back.

As I’m making my way over to my chiropractor’s office a black man and his wife speak to me. It’s the whole ”how you doin’ sistah…have a wonderful day, conversation that black folks have with one another. The man has this huge cast-like thing on his leg. After we pass each other he says, “excuse me sistah” and I turn around. He proceeds to tell me they are having a rough time and he just got released from the hospital and need to catch the shuttle bus back to Phoenix and for a lot of reasons that I can’t really recall, were having trouble doing so. He tried to show me all these papers and different things to show that what he was saying was legit but if I am already stopped, I’m going to help. The wife was apologetic and said it was embarrassing to have to ask for help, and for that I felt bad. Sometimes you are just down on your luck and when you have to go up to complete strangers on the street it must be a tough thing to do. So I gave them the money they still needed to get on the shuttle and went on my way, knowing that my dress money was well spent.

Later that evening I was over by the track and a guy stopped me and asked if I could help him get on the bus. He just needed a couple of dollars and proceeded to tell me that it was most definitely not for alcohol or cigarettes. I am thinking to myself that I must really have the aura of “giver” today. Not only am I running into people I feel genuinely need help but I actually have cash on me, which I never do. I didn’t have any singles so I gave him the larger bill that I had and this is what he said to me:

Thank you so much for helping me out. I hope that the next time you are in a rough spot and need someone to help you out that you come across people that are willing to help. God Bless.

And I just had to smile. Because what he had just said was already true. Most people who donated on my blog to help me with the cost of my knee surgery were people I don’t know personally. They just helped because they saw I was in a rough spot and offered assistance out of the kindness of their heart. Of course I didn’t give him that little bit of money with that on my mind, but after he said that I just felt a huge wave of gratefulness and gratitude. I am so appreciative to have so many people in my corner who believe in me and want to see me succeed. Sometimes when you help others just a little bit, they end up helping you a whole lot more in the end.