All it takes

Grumpy day.  Park­ing lot mis­un­der­stand­ings.  Vehi­cle keys bro­ken, a trek home to get one that worked.  Grumpy, weepy, mad at myself and the world.  For­tu­nately, the tow yard was near the T.  For­tu­nately, the hock for get­ting the car out wasn’t too high.  And for­tu­nately, I had exact change, because oth­er­wise I still would have felt grumpy.

After the tow-lot fella with the side­ways cap and the grimy Celtics hoodie and thick South Boston accent con­firmed that I had cash, not checks or credit cards, he said “Gee, I hope you’ve got change, ‘cuz Dude, I’m all out.”

I love being called Dude.  Espe­cially when I’m in a suit.  It makes me feel un-stuffy.  So I said “I’ve got exact change, actu­ally, sin­gles and coins.”

I hand over the cash with a slight smile, and he bursts out into a grin.  “Who’s bet­ter than you?  No one !” he said.  And at that moment, it felt like it.

Thanks, tow-lot fella.  Who’s bet­ter than you?  No one.

14 Responses to All it takes

  1. I can­re­late to those kind of days,mine are dif­fer­ent but I still crappy and grumpy.

    mike golchs last blog post..those darn seizures.

  2. I love that man!

    Pro­fes­sor Js last blog post..Inside These Walls

  3. Funny how even some­one in a job where he mostly deals with peo­ple who are at their worst (impounded cars, for god’s sake!) is still able to be pos­i­tive and com­pas­sion­ate and giving!

    And I love that he called you Dude!

    gs last blog post..PROMPTues­day

  4. Here’s to the dude! He’s even made my day better:)

  5. It’s amaz­ing how one thing can change your day. I’m glad he changed yours.

    Jenn @ Jug­gling Lifes last blog post..Dis­ney­land Daze

  6. That’s great! That reminds me a bit of the “val­i­da­tion” movie you posted.

    Sorry about the oth­er­wise suck­i­ness of the day. I hope things went up from there.

    ale­j­nas last blog post..gather round the table

  7. All of my adult life I have got­ten along bet­ter with men that with other women — this is a gen­er­al­iza­tion I real­ize — my hus­band says the rea­son I get along bet­ter with men than women is because I call peo­ple “Dude”.

    I tend to think it is because men have less drama than women but maybe the name Dude car­ries more power than I think!

    Glad he could make you smile!

    Michelles last blog post..Favorite Time of the Day

  8. A lit­tle blog treat for you here
    http://smoochdog1212.com/?p=571

    Michelles last blog post..Appar­ently I AM Fabulous!

  9. Glad he was a nice guy. He prob­a­bly needs it to do his job..

    Sabri­naTs last blog post..HEY MOM” Is get­ting a bit expen­sive around here!

  10. maybe he just watched that val­i­da­tion film :)

  11. It’s the lit­tle con­sid­er­a­tions from the peo­ple I least expect it from that I LOVE. :)

    thor­do­ras last blog post..Angels danc­ing on the head of a pin dis­solve into noth­ing­ness at the bed­side of a dying child.

  12. Dude, I never thought I’d say this, but…I kinda miss hear­ing that thick South Boston accent. The Philly accent is hor­rid, the south­ern NJ accent is atrocious.

    Alli­son

    Allisons last blog post..Jack saves us all from a dan­ger­ous land shark

  13. Dude. I like that guy too.

    Cheri @ Blog This Mom!s last blog post..Why We Don’t Homeschool

  14. Dude, I call every­one Dude, and even got my Hait­ian boss to start say­ing it. I love that he called you Dude, I per­son­ally think it’s charming.

    Missed you.

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