A Kiss!

So, I went to the Denver Central Library on Saturday to get me some storytelling books for my Storytelling Class. Almost every time I set out to utilize some Denver resource, I end up falling in love with this city all over again and this jaunt proved no exception.

First of all, I parked RIGHT IN FRONT. I could not possibly explain how crazy this is to me but it happens all the time here. When I tell folks back in California of such scenarios, they sit, rapt and wide-eyed. Later, they'll say, "Heather, tell us again of this fabled place where parking is of little or no concern for it sounds magical!" And I regale them once again.

Anyway, I went inside and there were no lines and it took me about two minutes to obtain a library card. Friendly people were everywhere, helping me find exactly what I came for - books on ghost stories. Sure enough, just like the grocery store, I came for one thing and left with four.

As I walked up to my truck, a young Latino man approached me with a smile, "Excuse me, ma'am? Is this your truck?" I confirmed that it was. "Oh, I was just leaving you this note on your windshield. When I was parking, I backed up and kissed your bumper a bit. I'm so sorry!"

I looked at his car which was a boxy older car nearly taken completely over by rust. A old wooden rosary hung from the rear-view mirror. I looked at him again and he offered more apologies. "I just wanted to make sure there was no damage." I blinked at him, not quite sure if he was real or not.

"Um, well, let's see," I said. We both inspected the bumper (I mean, isn't this why we have 'bumpers' to begin with?) and found no damage. "No, I don't see anything different," I said. To be honest, I really don't look at that part of my car very often. I mean, something weird could be on the bottom of my feet right now, and I would have no idea, y'know?

I then asked him if I could have the note anyway and poked him directly in the chest: "YOU are going to get a fresh boatload of good karma for this, young man! Your honesty will come back to you in some wonderful way, you just wait and see."

He smiled, "Well, I sure hope so. I could use it." We then wished each other a good day, an even better life and said goodbye. I looked at the note, which read:

"HI THERE
I KISSED
YOUR BUMPER
W/MY CAR
IF YOU FIND
ANYTHING WRONG
PLEASE CALL
ME
XXX-XXX-XXXX
THANKS
ROMAN"

Stuff like this makes me love Denver all the more. It also reminds me of the Anne Frank quote:

"In spite of everything, I still believe people are good at heart."