When I was in my second year of college, I would drive home to my mother's house about every other weekend. Like many other college students, I was strapped for cash. Sometimes I would take the back roads home for no other reason than I had no money for tolls.
But, sometimes, I trusted in the Universe to give me toll money. More realistically, I trusted that enough people had missed the basket and that I could put together the then 40 cent toll with the change I found on the ground.
When I got a good job and before the days of IPass, I used to pay double tolls occassionally, paying for the person behind me in line.
It was with this in mind that I decided on my gift for day 3. Times have changed and many Illinois residents rely on IPass. But there are still those from out of state who drive through our tollbooths and have to pay double the toll because they do not have an IPass.
First toll I went through today, I stopped and said to the toll lady, "I have an IPass, but I would like to pay for the next person who comes through the tollbooth."
She laughed at me and said it would be a while before anyone else passed through. No matter to me...someone was going to get a free pass.
My kids were in the car with me. They asked me why I did that. So, I explained that I was giving 29 gifts in 29 days. Nathan and Joey both agreed that I should do it more often. I had one more toll before home, so I did it twice today.
When I used to do this back in the day, I used to wonder about the person who was behind me in the toll. What was their story? Did they really need someone to pay for that toll? Were they planning to ask the toll lady or man for an envelope so they could mail their toll in later?
I would like to think that the people who got one free toll today really needed it.
But, that's not the point. Someone got a toll as a gift today. And I was happy to give it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment