If you ever want to test your kids’ mettle, just have your smoke detectors go off at 2:30 a.m. on a random Tuesday.
Fortunately for us, there was no fire — just a dead battery — but it sure did wake the entire family up in a jiffy and startled the bejesus out of the kids.
It was just easier to rip the smoke detector from the ceiling, and go back to bed than to try to find a new battery in the middle of the night. I’m glad that’s what we did, because I ended up noticing that one of the two smoke detectors that we’d pulled down (we have three and couldn’t figure out which one had set them all off), needed to be replaced this year anyway.
Not wanting to be without those all-too-important safety devices, off I went at the crack of dawn the very next morning to a certain orange big box store to replace the one I had with one of the same brand in the hopes I wouldn’t have to reinstall a new mounting plate.
Like I said, I was there in the morning so there weren’t too many customers yet to keep staff busy but I have to tell you, the customer service I received was second to none. First I was greeted at the door, then there was a group of maybe four or five employees all milling about in the centre of the store jockeying for position to say hello and ask if I needed help. The checkout attendant was also super helpful. It was a quick trip. I knew what I needed and knew where to find it but I kind of wish I had needed something more involved so that I could have taken advantage of all of those willing helpers. I know to some extent it’s their job to help, but I feel like they were just willing to help for help’s sake. I felt taken care of.
Last week I had my vehicle fixed by a mechanic I’d never met before. To say he went above and beyond would have been an understatement. I don’t know much about cars, but to the best of my knowledge I feel like he did a good job. The price was great, the attention to detail was second-to-none, and he was just overall a super nice guy.
Again, I felt taken care of.
A funny thing happens when you feel well cared for. You want to care for people. This happened to me after my recent interactions. When I got home after having dealt with my vehicle, I hauled out the power washer and cleaned the moss off my neighbour’s driveway. She works shifts doing an important job and after feeling well taken care of by folks recently, I felt like it was my turn to be the caretaker.
I enjoyed the work although I didn’t manage to do a perfect job. It looks much better now. More importantly, it will be much less slippery in the rain and snow.
Honestly, I’m not sure what made me feel better — being cared for, or being the caretaker. That’s the thing about being a good human — not only does it make other people feel good, it makes you feel good too. Imagine if we could all find a way to cut the crap; to cut through the red tape and bury the bureaucracy and just take care of each other. Imagine what kind of a community we could live in if people were being cared for and caring for others. Man, would that feel good. For all of us.