~ José Marti
I recently was
trying to make my way to a church for a funeral Mass. The Mass was on a church property that
includes a church and two schools, and I was having a hard time figuring out
where the Mass was and where I should park.
The parking lot was full and I could not tell where in the cluster of
buildings the church might be. There was
a gentleman in a golf cart who appeared to be a security guard or
custodian. I stopped to ask him where I
should park and if he knew where the funeral Mass might be. He told me that there were three churches on
the property and that I should look around for parking. I drove by where I thought the Mass might be and
saw two police officers waiting outside.
I asked them if they knew where I might park and they directed me to a
driveway. Not convinced, I drove back by
the gentleman in the golf course, who then said to me, "You have been
pretty nice, so I am going to help you."
(I had earlier seen him chase a car out of a place it should not have
been.) He told me to drive around one of
the rows of cars and then directed me to park across three cars. When I asked him what those people would do
if they needed to leave, he said, "Don't worry about it -- those are my
students." I asked him if I should
leave him my keys. "No," came
the reply, "I know what you look like -- I'll come find you." As I was getting out of my car, he drove up in
his golf cart and told me he would drive me to where the Mass was. I accepted his kind invitation and managed to
arrive at the Mass in a much better state than if I had walked in the heat. As I was walking to my car after the Mass, I
stopped by his golf cart and attempted to give him a tip, but he refused. "Can't I buy you a cup of coffee?"
I asked. Still no. I thanked him again and left, grateful for
his unexpected kindness.
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