Restoring My Faith in People

Published on Sunday, December 16, 2012 by Katherine

Just look at the news. Because I don’t. Not anymore. Robberies. Child Abuse. SHOOTINGS. I’ve come to lose faith in many things lately, with mankind right up there at the top. I often wonder exactly where this world is heading.

How often do you turn on the television and hear a story of kindness and good? Not often. So how about a little hope right where you’re at? That’s here… right now. At Shoot Me Now Dot Com.

Saturday I piled my daughter, her friend and my neighbor in the car and drove to the church Christmas tree lot my parents always went to. With $40 in hand, I followed the girls along with my neighbor, giggling and carrying on, in to the lot.

“Look for a green tag honey! Then you can pick out whichever tree you want!”

We wandered, looked and wandered some more. No green tags. “It’s OK, we can find something at Lowe’s or Kmart.”

As we left, one of the people from the church asked where we were going. I hung my head and said, “I can’t afford the trees that are left.” The circle of men collectively looked at eachother and one of them called out, “Go get the negotiator!”

In he walks. “Come on, let’s go look for a tree. Which one do you like?”

My daughter found a tree. A short fat tree. And when it comes to trees, fat is GOOD. “I love this tree Mom,” she said as she hugged it, “It has issues.”

A short, fat tree with issues. Now THAT’S a tree.

The negotiator looked at my daughter’s choice, screwed up his mouth a bit and said, “Why that tree is thirty-seven dollars.” At that, we four girls jumped up and down and squealed… like girls.

“Where do you live?” “Oh, I’m down the street. We can just put it in the trunk and tie it down. Do you have string?” “No, no. He is going home now. He will drive it to your house.” “Ummm it’s a ways down the road… he doesn’t know where it is.” “But he knows the back of your car”!

A seventy-five dollar tree for thirty-seven dollars. And free delivery. I was near tears.

At a stoplight on the way home, the two girls in the back began to giggle. And then laugh outloud. My neighbor looked back and began to laugh. “What!? What’s so funny?”

Apparently, we had pulled up to a handsome young man who was rubbing his beard as if pondering something deep. My daughter’s friend began to mimic him just as he looked over. Instead of being a jerk he smiled and began to rub his beard more. By the end of the stoplight cycle, we were all rubbing our chins, laughing hysterically and waving to handsome beard man.

Once our tree was safely in the driveway, the church volunteer got in his truck and turned it towards home. As he drove away, he rolled down his window and yelled, “Merry Christmas! HO HO HOOOOO!”

Merry Christmas to you, my friend. And to handsome beard man, and to a church Christmas tree lot filled with hearts of gold.

And that’s the news, my friends. The news we should hear every day. There are still good people in this world.