I was driving down Upsal Street, looking for the UPS drop-off box. (I wanted to return the DSL moden Verizon sent me even though I cancelled my order.) I passed a hand-lettered sign that said “Car wash - Cars $5!!! Trucks $7!!!” where a racially-mixed bunch of women and girls sitting on the steps of a stately old stone house. I figured it was probably a halfway house, because we have a lot of group homes in the neighborhood.
My car needed a wash; it’s white, and it looks pretty scruffy if I don’t keep up with it. But it wasn’t on my list of things to do today, and I just wanted to keep going.
But one of the women - more of a girl, really - smiled this shy smile at me and waved tentatively as I drove past, still checking addresses as I looked for the UPS box. So after I dropped off the package, I made a U-turn and headed back to their driveway.
They were excited; I think I was their first customer of the day. Six of them descended on my car and went to work. It was probably the best, most thorough car wash I’d ever had, and when they were done, I handed $10 to the woman who seemed to be in charge.
“It’s only $5,” she said.
“You guys did a great job,” I said. “You deserve it.” And they did.
YEA!
I, too, have a white car– a 1993 Honda Civic.
I gotta say, the ONLY time that I get her washed is via community car-washing fundraisers.
It feels great to help others, who, in return, help YOU.
I ALWAYS rund up to the nearest big bill, and ALWAYS tell them to “Keep the change.”
I ALWAYS feel good about that, and I think my car does too.
That ‘93 Honda just turned 100K miles, and is the BESEST little car that I have ever owened.
–mf
Are you and I the only bloggers blogging today?
Goodness… I’ve got 24 tabs open to the best blogs in our part of the neighborhood, and aside from an occassional Atrios posting, you and I are the only new updates every time I hit “Refresh All Tabs” in firefox…
**sigh**
I’m currently working on part 2 of my Peak Energy series, and researching the “Natural Gas Cliff.” So, maybe it’s best that I’m not distracted by other engaging reads…
Here’s Part 1 of the series: So George Is Going To Jaw-Bone The Big 3…
It’s sort of odd… I never meant to go into th analysis of ALTFuels, but, it just sort of ended up that way… Good email response has led me to look at our other energy resources… We’re going to see some really ugly stuff in our lifetime, sister of mine…
–mf