Monday, May 18, 2009

And now for some heavy stuff...

In yesterday's episode, I left you with the impression that I was heading off to this incredible adventure in Oregon. I have to say I was really looking forward to it. The plan was to visit Nick and Carmen and Eric at their very hot shot restaurant in McMinnville. 4 or 5 star, serious restaurant. I figured I would stop in Ashland then continue on up to McMinnville.

First of all, you need to understand this was a last minute thought. I was supposed to go to Dallas for a graduation, not mine. That wasn't working out. So then I got crazy and thought about Sevilla in Spain. Sounded good, getting crazier. I came back to earth and, after talking to some guy outside a bathroom in Healdsburg (men wait in line sometimes, too), he tells me how great Salem, OR is. He makes it sound pretty appealing. I link that with my friends' restaurant not far away from Salem and I have made a decision. Maybe, I think, pretty sure, not really, I'll head out to Salem. What the hell. What am I doing. The girlfriend needs some space anyway. Space is a good thing. Check out the guys working on the Hubble. That's getting away.

So I am off to Ashland but I keep going and finally land in Medford, a few miles further up the road. I don't know why. It seemed like a good idea. I walk in to the Comfort Suites Hotel and begin a very short conversation with the manager. She checks the database to make sure I get points and she sees that I am a "Taxguy." What exactly do you do, she wants to know. I deal with ugly IRS tax cases. And, of course, she proceeds (as everyone does when they hear what I do) to tell me about her ugly tax case. I won't go into detail except that, after she hit me with the part about how she cares for her mother who has Alzheimer's, I sat down and helped. She was extremely grateful and explained to me how she had been praying the last 2 weeks for help with this problem.

Now, I am probably the least religious person around. And I do not believe the Lord (whichever one you go for) sent me to help her. BUT, I do find it very interesting that the next day, I wrenched my back and had to turn back and head for home. My entire trip turned out to be about that woman who was barely making ends meet, trying to help her mom and believing that someone would show up and help her. She was convinced I was the guy. In my eyes, the drive was almost worthless until I focused on helping that woman. Cause and effect. Cause and effect. Cause and effect. All the little decisions that took me to Medford to sit with that woman. It's really amazing.

We see this sort of thing happen in our lives all the time but rarely is it so blatant, where the cause and effect stands in front of you, about 50 feet high, and is screaming, "Figure this out, Bozo." Of, course, He did get my name wrong. Makes you think. Strange stuff.

We won't go in to the part where I lock my keys in my car at a Starbucks.


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