海角大神

On a bright and dewy spring morning, I was meeting a friend for a walk around nearby Burke Lake Park, and stopped by a McDonald鈥檚 to pick up a couple of Egg McMuffins for our breakfast.

I pulled into the parking lot from the north and eased toward the drive-thru. I had company. A big tough guy 鈥� beard, hunting gear, 鈥淒on鈥檛 Tread on Me type鈥� 鈥� in a big tough truck 鈥� oversize wheels, mud flaps 鈥� approached from the south.

I was clearly the next in line, but the back of his truck was jutting out into a side street, so I motioned for him to go ahead. His engine roared as if he were taking off on a street race; the truck lurched forward 10 feet and then rocked back as he hit the brakes. Glad I let him go, I thought.

He placed his order. I placed mine, and pulled up to the window to pay.聽

As I presented my credit card, the woman at the register put up a hand. She motioned toward the truck ahead and said with a smile and a shrug, 鈥淗e paid for you.鈥� Surprised, I opened my car door and shouted a quick 鈥淗ey, thank you!鈥� The big tough guy flashed a thumbs-up in the side-view mirror and then rumbled off to meet the rest of his day.聽

It was a really nice moment, but did this brief interaction over Egg McMuffins at a McDonald鈥檚 drive-thru restore my faith in humanity?聽

Actually, yeah, it kind of did.聽

It reminded me that despite what we see on the news and social media, where everyone is a fire-breathing extremist of some sort, most people out there are pretty friendly folk. It reminded me of all the times in my life, in ways big and small, at home and abroad, when I depended on the kindness of strangers and they came through. It reminded me not to judge a book by its cover. If that鈥檚 an overused phrase, it鈥檚 probably because we need to be reminded of it all the time.

I met my friend at the lake. We unwrapped our free Egg McMuffins, steam rising into the air, and saw the sun lighting up the new green foliage. It was a beautiful morning.聽

鈥� Zachary Przystup