Grace and a Grande Frappuccino

 

Some days, I'm a walking Disaster...

Throughout my childhood, my parents would joke that they should have named me Katelyn "Grace," to make up for my (often) lack of the virtue. Between my being helpful (loading the dishwasher with dish soap= bubbles all over the hardwood...) and my being just plain clumsy (as the kid who started kindergarten with both a cast and an eye patch, I'll also accept reckless) I most certainly kept my family on their toes. Then I got my driver's license...

These days in PDX, I rarely drive. Parking in downtown PDX is awful; I move my car as little as possible for fear of having to find a new spot. This mentality lead to my going longer and longer without using my wheels, until finally one day I came back for my car and discovered it had been towed... a week ago. Lesson learned...  

Field Trip

(Your Daily Dose of Schadenfreude)

Last night I adventured to People's Co-Op off SW 21st for my Food Ethics field trip. While Food Ethics is by far the least appetizing class I've experienced in Culinary School, the instructor, Chef Ramona, is by far one of my favorites. She's a transplanted New Yorker who makes popcorn with "Hippie Dust" (Nutritional Yeast) on demand to temper the gruesome documentaries.

Completing my local organic food scavenger list, I bought some bread (hazelnut with anise and a dried berry) and lasagna pie (skeptical, but it had awesome homemade noodles)  then hopped in my car to head home and enjoy the sun. As I backed up, then paused to watch traffic, a pedestrian tapped on my window, "Hey, hate to tell you, but you bumped into that motorcycle..."

Crap. Crap. Crap.

Awful feeling mounting, I look and with growing horror realize that I know the owner of that green bike with sidecar... Chef Ramona.

Approaching as timidly as possible I, despite my growing horror, eventually manage, "Chef, I am so, so very sorry, and please don't fail me... but I think I dented your bike fender when I backed up."

And then she said five words that I, in my fear, never would have expected.

"That dent was already there," she smiled and then continued on by apologizing to have put me through that anxiety...

What? Woah.

To be perfectly honest, I'm still not entirely sure that I didn't cause that dent, but I'm in awe at the awesome grace in that moment. Knowing people make mistakes meant that she cut me a break for this one, and passed on an important lesson: a kind word and loving heart go a long way toward helping with a mistake. Teaching doesn't only live in a classroom.

 

Paying It Forward

Today, as I began my May with the effort to help others, I started with her example in mind. No one ran into my car (at least, not that I could tell; the bumper's trashed from parallel parkers in my neighborhood...), but when I got my coffee this morning, I paid for the car behind me.

"Tell them it's on Ramona."

 

Be Good to Each Other,
K