Briefly

I’m stuck at my office at 9 p.m. on a Friday night. I can’t start my car. I can’t get to dinner. I can’t get home. And it’s all because a tiny piece of metal broke at the wrong time. I was heading out to show a house to a woman about 3 p.m. Friday when my key broke off in the ignition. It was annoying, but the car started, so I thought I would deal with it later. The car had other ideas, though. Now I’m waiting for a locksmith who’s going to charge me $165 to make a new transponder key. That’s frustrating, but everybody has faced similar issues. What’s the point? As the world gets more complicated, there are more and more points of failure. In my case, a piece of metal broke and that smashed a plastic device, somehow making a tiny chip no longer function. Modern life can be great, but this reminds me that we’re often better off keeping things simple, especially where technology is concerned. If something can break, it eventually will. Were we better off before technology got so complicated? As with most things, it’s a tradeoff.

As soon as I walked through the door to the eye doctor’s office a few minutes ago, I could tell everybody was stressed. There were two women at the front counter working frantically. After a moment, one of them tried to greet me, but she stumbled around before apologizing that they were having a crisis. She tried to deal with me as she handled another patient and listened to another call on hold, but she seemed overwhelmed. “It’s OK,” I said. “Let me wait until you’re finished with this. I don’t mind.” She thanked me and looked relieved. After a couple of minutes, she got off the phone and directed me to where I needed to be and I talked with her briefly about her crisis, just enough to express some empathy. Someone else helped me with what I’d come for and I left the office 10 minutes later. On the way out the door, I asked the woman up front if everything was OK now. She smiled and said it was a little better. I walked out the door, but before I got to my car, I realized she had followed me and said, “Excuse me. I was really upset when you came in, but the way you treated me changed how I felt. Thank you so much for your kindness.” In a small way, I helped this woman in a crisis. It didn’t cost me anything, either. Remember that you can ruin people’s days or make them better. Be someone who people are glad to see. It makes you a better person.

As I was joking around with the employees of a restaurant just now, I noticed a woman off to the side who was watching but trying not to be conspicuous. She finally came over and spoke. “Excuse me,” she started, apparently unsure how to ask her question. “Are you someone on TV? You seem like an entertainer I’ve seen somewhere, but I can’t figure out who you are.” After I laughed and assured her that it has been years since I’ve been on television for anything, she seemed a bit sheepish. She and her daughter are on their way from Ohio to Orange Beach, Ala., for a vacation — and she was certain she had run across a vacationing celebrity. I found it hilarious.