Some days are better than others!

     Thursday hit us with a breath of fresh air, literally, as it finally cooled off to a comfortable temperature over night!  We are both preparing ourselves for a busy weekend as Kelli's off to Great Falls Friday night for her old college roommates bachelorette party, and I am off to Kalispell for the annual MDM golf scramble.  She's coming over to meet me Saturday morning and we're going to spend the rest of the weekend enjoying the Flathead valley.
     In light of the fact that I'm not getting any younger along with the fact that the first 25 years of my life were spent as a human test dummy, I have been doing yoga each morning before work for about three weeks now.  It seems to be helping as not only do I head off for work physically refreshed but I also seem to be much more relaxed and ready for what the day is going to throw my direction.  In my line of work this is a good attitude to have as my day can literally go to shit in a second!  Today was off to a better start than usual however as when I got off the interstate there was a transient on the corner, as there always is, but instead of the usual plea for money, work, or food this guys cardboard sign simply read "smiles are free".  He was cheerfully waving and smiling at every single car that passed him by.  As I passed him I smiled back in return and kept on going, smiling and driving!  I don't know what kind of cheer this man had in his smiles but it was certainly contagious, I kept smiling nearly the rest of the way to the shop!
     My day of cheer continued as my first stop for the day was a leak under a kitchen sink of a little old ladies house.  The repair was fairly simple and she sat there watching me work and chatting the whole time.  This is one of the perks of my job as I'm kind of chatty kind of guy who's never met a stranger:)  Once the repairs were done I filed out her paperwork and she began to write out a check for the work.  The total bill was less than a hundred bucks but when her daughter asked her if she was going to have me look at her toilet issue the mother said she was not as she couldn't afford to have it done this trip.  Naturally I asked her as she finished writing out the check what the problem was with the toilet, turns out she accidentally flushed a toe nail brush of some kind down it and now it was clogged.  She went on to tell me how a friend of hers recommended she try bending a metal clothes hanger and fishing it down the toilet to try to unplug it.  Now I don't know if you've ever tried getting a clothes hanger down around a toilet trap before but it is nearly impossible!
     When she handed me the check I told her "I'll tell you what, why don't you sign the bottom of your invoice here and while your doing that I'll grab my closet auger from the truck and fix that toilet quick, it will take me two minutes with the right tool"  She literally started crying and simply said "are you sure, I don't want to trouble you".  I told her it wasn't a problem, grabbed my auger, and had the toilet cleared out in about two minutes.  She was so happy she started crying again!  I told her she should be good to go now and she asked me if it would be alright for her to give me a hug, I told her of course it is and three hugs later I was out the door and on my way to the next one.  I told her it was my pleasure to take two minutes out of my day to make her day, she fought back more tears as she told me I made her month!
     And just like that the smile that the man off the interstate had given me was right back on my face!  I love helping people out like this as I understand as much as anyone how sometimes the smallest acts of kindness can be all it takes to turn your day around.  I know its people like this lady who remind me that my job isn't as bad as I like to make it sound at times!  I only hope that I wasn't the only person who received a free smile this morning and passed it along throughout the entire day!


Remember, the smallest action will often bring the largest reward!