TUESDAY THOUGHTS: BAG LADY

I'd contemplated how I was going to maneuver all of the bags I'd accumulated. 

Between the bags from the laundry, the cleaners, Ross, 7-Eleven, CVS, and Beauty Island, I was loaded down. 

It was getting dark. 

It had been a really good day. 

I'd managed to run every errand, but I was a little tired. 

I'd only stopped to return a suit that had clearly looked better on the hanger than it did on me. 

I hadn't planned to stay, and didn't realize how long I'd browsed in the new Ross store in Rivertowne, until I saw the clock in the car. 

I thought about stopping for a pizza, but that would have been one more thing to carry. 

I wondered what kind of bag lady I looked like, as I went from the car to the door.

When you KNOW you're going to have to make several trips, but delude yourself into thinking you can consolidate and save time, you run the risk of bodily injury, or at least providing a hilarious scene for passersby.

 

Laziness has consequences. You break something, or spill something, or a bag bursts. 

I remembered something my Dad always says: "Lazy people work hard."  

I'd managed to get everything out of the car, and into the building. 

Just as I was about to drag the biggest bag up one step at a time,  there was a knock on the glass door, and I saw the badge. 

I opened the door, and without any fanfare, I had a hero/angel asking me how far up the stairs I was going. 

DC Police Officer Carter saw me. 

He handed me his pen, paperwork, and clipboard, and then scooped up the heaviest bag as if it was a feather.  

I'd added at least three bags to the already heavy bag with the intention of taking them out once I got inside, but he just grabbed the whole thing before I could say a word). 

Have you ever had a vision of yourself falling into a pitiful heap? 

I imagined myself on a Life Alert commercial, all sprawled and broken, in the stairwell, surrounded by my laundry, dry cleaning, groceries and mail. 

I imagined that, as I tried to sling the bag, Santa Claus-style, across my back, the weight of it sent me sailing backward down the stairs, unable to grab the railing. 

I saw it all in my mind. 

That's when I laughed at myself and decided, "Don't be lazy or stupid. Take as many trips as you need to get the bags upstairs". 

Turns out, I didn't have to.

Gracious, unsolicited, help really does come along when you need it. 

Chivalry and good citizenship lives! Yay!