One of Those Days…
Friday, October 30th, 2009Yesterday was one of those days that was filled with twists, turns and wonderful surprises. Don’t you just love days like that?
First off, it was International Wear A Dress Day! Usually I shy away from wearing dresses once it is under 60 degrees, but I just had to participate. I almost forgot how good it feels to wear a dress just because, and I love the sweater dress I wore. Instant boost to the day.
I received a number of fantastic emails (exciting news to be written about soon), an inquiry from a shopper in Hong Kong (any new country I’ve never shipped to before is amazing to me), and after the usual “unusual” workday and making my new necklace frame, I headed down to Detroit to pick up the new Detroit Urban Craft Fair posters and postcards. *They look awesome!* I had a quick moment to grab some food before heading off to our Handmade Detroit meeting about the fair, so I ran into the tiny Middle Eastern restaurant a few doors down from the print shop. While waiting for our orders to cook, I had a lovely conversation with the restaurant owner and two other customers – a middle aged man, dressed in a great suit and trench coat and a young woman who were both from the area.
The man quietly told the shop owner that he would pay for the young lady’s dinner, exchanged goodbyes with us, and left with his meal. After he’d left, the shop owner told the woman that her meal had already been paid for, and she ran down the street to thank the man. She came back in and we talked about how nice and surprising a gesture it was.
Then the man came back in, with an armful of flowers. He gave both the woman and I a half dozen red roses, and a big bouquet to the shop owner, to give to his wife. We all were smiling, surprised and a bit brighter when he walked back out, telling us all to have a great day.
What a nice moment. It instantly made me feel inspired and made the rest of my night even better. It made me love Detroit that much more, and the surprisingly selfless people in it. I went to the Handmade Detroit meeting inspired and excited.
I’m not sure how to pay it forward yet, but I will find a way today, and hope to make someone else smile like we all did last night. That simple gesture had a big, positive impact on us, and I’d like to be able to give some stranger that feeling to pass on to someone else. What will you do today?
