Good People Everywhere

I had a great “people” day last Thursday.

First, I was invited to meet the members of a public affairs firm in Spokane The meeting was the result of a couple of e-mails I sent off to somebody I didn’t know, who called me back, invited me to his house and whom, I’m sure, will become a good friend.

He saw something in my e-mail that said we might help people by working together. I left the meeting feeling good about people and the potential for doing good things for good reasons.

I then stopped by the Volkswagen dealership in Spokane Valley, WA.

Pardon me while I give you the set up: Our old VW (160,000 miles and counting) required a new battery last week. When power is gone from the car the radio goes into a “SAFE” mode which means no music until you reset the thing. You’re supposed to be able to disarm by pressing buttons and entering a code. I did all the right button pushing (I think) but the radio wouldn’t come back on. It just kept flashing SAFE SAFE SAFE.

So there I was at the VW dealership. No appointment. Didn’t buy the car there. I walked up to the service counter. Jeff, the assistant manager, smiled and said something like “hot enough for you?” and proceeded to listen to my rambling story about the radio.

He grabbed a special tool., walked with me to the old Jetta. With a flick of the tool, he popped the radio out of the dash, read a code from the side of the radio, walked back inside, checked the validity of the code on-line, walked back out to my car’s 100-plus-degree interior, pulled a couple of plugs out of the radio replaced them, held down the two buttons. SAFE disappeared as promised and yes, music!

“There ya go.”

“How much do I owe ya?”

“Not a thing”

Cool.

Then I traveled back to Sandpoint, looking for a place to have an antique pewter flask engraved before sending it to my son for his birthday. I had procrastinated getting it done.

First shop, “Sorry, try the trophy shop in Ponderay.” Then she gave me directions and told me she liked the flask.

Good gift daddy-oh!

The trophy shop. “We can do it, but you want it by when?!!! Kinda poor planning on your part.”

“Yep. Guilty as charged..”

“ No matter. Have you tried the Jewelry Store in the Mall?”

“Nope, wanted to try you first.”

“Here, I’ll call the Jewelry Store for you.”

“Huh? You don’t have to do that.”

“No problem, sorry we couldn’t get it done for you by tomorrow. Maybe they can.” She dialed the phone and handed it to me.

“Jewelry Store. Sure, right up our alley. Tomorrow? No Problem.”

These days do come along. And they come along more often when I remember to serve others as I want to be served.