Two Stories of Human Kindness

Frown Town

I’m going to tell you two stories that turned my frown upside down.

Why the frown in the first place? Just general overwhelm because of the holidays and extra events and keeping track of details and trying to meet deadlines and figuring out what everyone wants for Christmas and carrying the weight everyone else’s happiness this time of year. Plus the weather was overwhelming. Also I was sick for a long time.

But the current state of my frown? Upside down. Some of that is because our family has now passed our busiest weekend of the month, I’ve made good progress on Christmas gift shopping, and the weather turned a corner this week, hallelujah. But there were two lovely humans, yes, two lovely businesses, who played their part, too. (High five if you get my nod to the book of Proverbs there.)

Story #1: RNR Tire Express

Let’s travel back in time one week, to last Thursday. The temperature? Negative degrees Fahrenheit. The feels like temp? Zero Kelvin. The street near our house got plowed in the middle of a snow storm, so the snow that fell after that collected in chunks… which briefly thawed, then re-froze… and ever since, the street has partially resembled an ice rink that needs a Zamboni, and partially resembled a “Category B” road. Matt left for work, and I sat down to write last week’s Substack post. To my surprise, Matt returned four minutes later, saying that there’s something wrong with the car. After further investigation, he found that a bolt had lodged itself into our front tire.

This is was tricky timing-wise because Matt had a call to jump on, so he left the car with the bolt in the driveway. I started doing mental scheduling-math and realized that we were really relying on two drivers that afternoon in order to pick kids up/drop them off to their various activities. Lots of extra activities that week. I took a deep breath, and looked up the phone number for our regular tire place and did the unthinkable: I made an actual phone call. The man on the other end of the line informed me they couldn’t get us in until maybe 1:00pm that day, and I said that simply won’t do, good day, Sir. Then I made another phone call (can you believe it?!) to a different tire place that had really high ratings on Google. The man on the other end of that line informed me that they have availability, and I could come in right away.

I double checked with Matt that this place looked agreeable enough to him, then I was on my way. I drove five miles under the speed limit, praying the whole way that 1) I would make it there, 2) they’d be able to fix it, and 3) it wouldn’t be ungodly expensive. Fun fact: my drive there got better as I went because driving on it was basically hammering the bolt right into the tire, sealing up the air around it. Neat!!

I thanked the Lord as I parked my car, and went inside. They had a nice waiting room, and I brought out my laptop (for to work on that Substack post), so I made myself at home while I waited for the various tire-related tasks to be accomplished. Eventually a man came out with my car keys in one hand, and a form for me to sign in the other. I signed his form while he told me what they did to the tire (those details went into one ear, wafted through my skull, and immediately exited the other ear). Then he told me I’m “good to go”, and I said that’s great, please show me where I should pay you for this service you’ve provided. And reader, please pay attention to this next part: He told me that I owe him no monies, and that he would not charge me for this service. He told me that they want to make sure people are driving around safely on the road, and that is absolutely not the case if you are using the road to hammer a bolt deeper and deeper into your tire. He also told me that they are a newer business and they are still building their client base. I said, Sir, you are a blessing from heaven, I will give you the glowing-est of Google reviews, and I will tell everyone I’ve ever met about how wonderful your business is.

(The lack of quotation marks is intentional, because obviously neither of us talked this way. Potentially related fact: I have been reading Moby Dick…)

I left that tire place believing in the goodness of God and with a renewed belief that human kindness has not fully departed from the earth. “I feel God in this tire place today,” I said to Matt when I got home. (High five if you get The Office reference.)

The tire place: RNR Tire Express. Right by Jersey Mike’s.

Story #2: Midwest Electronic Recovery

At the beginning of this post when I was explaining why I had a frown in the first place, I mentioned that I was trying to meet deadlines. The main deadline I was trying to meet was self-imposed (as many of my deadlines are, given that I’m an independent singer-songwriter). My latest song, Cotton Candy Sky, has gotten some good traction, and I thought: wouldn’t it be nice to capitalize on that traction and release a song in January? A great idea, I replied to myself, and I got to work. By the end of last week, I had edited lyrics for two songs, recorded, produced, and mixed them, and sent them both out for mastering! If you are a paid subscriber to my Substack, you get to hear one of those songs RIGHT NOW!!

But of course, it’s not just recording, producing, mixing, and mastering that a song needs to make it release-ready. It also needs album artwork! I won’t tell you details about the new song right now, but I will tell you that this song requires an old Macintosh computer from the late 80s/early 90s to be prominently featured in the album artwork.

I sent Matt a link to a stock photo of such a computer to ask if he’d be able to apply his graphic design skills to add the song’s title in a way that would be consistent with the appearance of those computers. He said yes, but he followed it up by saying that he wished he could have possession of one of those computers in the flesh so that the photo wouldn’t look so stock-photo-y.

Time passed, but my need for this album artwork did not, and since I do not possess the skills of graphic design myself, I poked my nose around the internet to see if I could get my hands on one of these vintage computers. I figured that if I did, I could use it in a music video, too. I asked Facebook if I knew anyone who has a computer like this, and their collective silence told me that no, I do not.

I had a little bit of free time yesterday, so I figured I’d try a couple thrift stores, thinking that I definitely wouldn’t find an old Macintosh, but maybe I could find an old looking monitor that would do the trick. After striking out at two thrift stores, I figured I had time to hit one more before I needed to pick the kids up from school. Now, there happened to be a special store that popped up anytime I typed “vintage computer Des Moines” into Google, and this store happened to be right on my way to this would-be third thrift store. I decided to give it a shot.

I entered, and spoke to a man with long hair and a warm smile. I uttered fewer than twenty words in stating my business at this establishment, and he replied, “I know exactly what you mean, and I think I may have that”. He disappeared into a back room, and I perused the various speakers and other electronics they have for sale in their showroom. He came back carrying the exact thing I had been hoping to find. I think I made HIS day because he saw how happy he made ME. I could feel my eyes fill with pure, innocent joy as I saw it. “That’s exactly what I want!!!” I exclaimed. “How much???”

Reader, once again, please pay attention to this next part.

This long haired, warm smiling man said to me in response: “You can just take it.” A single tear of happiness threatened to form in my eye. “Are you serious??” I asked. He explained that he is indeed serious, and that his only request is that I bring it back to this establishment when I’m done with it. He didn’t say why, but I imagine it’s either because they want to recycle it properly, or because they want to try to refurbish it. “Deal!!” I said. And then I skipped out the door with my 1988 Macintosh computer. I was in there for a total of four minutes.

I took the photo above, and sent it to Matt with the caption: “!!!!!!!!!”, and I drove home, praising the Lord the whole way. I cleaned it off, and two days later, Matt and I took some glamour shots with it. Matt then used his degree in graphic design from Drake University to fool people into thinking that this computer 1) works, and 2) says the title of my upcoming song and my name. In time, I will post this photo on the internet, so do be sure to follow me everywhere. (Paid subscribers can see it today!)

This angelic establishment: Midwest Electronic Recovery in Clive. Behind Mayhem Comics.

The Moral of the Stories

There are still kind people out there — and there are some wonderful businesses that still feel more human than pig-with-dollar-signs-for-eyes. A little bit of kindness goes a long way. These two men have no idea how much their generosity not only brightened my day, but helped remind me that there is good reason to hold onto a positive outlook on life. And when I adopt a more positive outlook on life (as opposed to believing that everyone on earth is a pig-with-dollar-signs-for-eyes), then I am more inclined to be generous, as well. And maybe someday I can make someone’s day like these guys (who, now that I think about it, both have long hair) made mine.