Friday night! High school football! Marching bands!
My son is a senior this year. He has taken a leadership role with his section, all 22 saxophone players. So he is often the last to finish up after the band buses get back to the school and they unload. Friday night I arrived around 11pm to give him a ride home.
I was feeling quite exhausted myself and it clearly looked like I would be waiting in the car for another half an hour.
Not complaining. Especially since Ben had been up until 4am Thursday night into Friday morning finishing up homework to meet the deadline for the six week period, mere hours from the moment he completed the work. He got 1 hour sleep then back to school at 6am. He doesn’t come home from school on game days, so every Friday the band kids pull a 16-18 hour day. Whew!
The parking lot at school was filled with band parents doing the same thing as me. Good thing I can stream Bosch to my phone while I wait. Like many other parents, I utilize the parking strategy of backing into the parking spot. 😉🏎 I came across one spot ideal for watching the kids departing the building so I could see Ben coming out. It was also one of the only spots left in that section of the lot. I admit, I also grabbed some fast food to eat while I wait. Ok, so I have my plan, some tacos, and season 3 of Bosch queued up. Juuust need to park.
Directly across from my parking spot was a large truck with enough lights to see from outer space. Ok, maybe that’s exaggerating a little, but they were bright. So bright that it made backing in to my spot quite difficult, even with my rear view camera. I had to put my hand up to block the light a few times but finally got situated.
I noticed the truck, one of those large duty work trucks (couldn’t see the make and model), turned off some of the auxiliary lights but kept the headlights on. Many trucks like this have the headlights on any time the vehicle is running; there isn’t an off option.
The driver obviously saw me struggling to park. As I was starting the show on my phone, I noticed he was walking my way.
This is one of the reasons I began telling stories from my time driving Uber and Lyft. And, it is moments like this, that redeem my faith in humanity in such divisive and difficult times.
I rolled down the window, not really knowing what to expect. I noticed he had a windshield shade with him. He was very polite and explained that he needed to keep the truck running because his daughter was in the truck and sick. He offered up his sun shade. I thanked him but refused the shade. I guess I am a little OCD but anytime I am in my vehicle, parked or otherwise, I prefer not to block my view. Besides, once I was parked and since he reduced the additional lighting I was fine.
As tired as I was and the fact that I am out of practice sharing moments like this, I simply expressed my heartfelt gratitude for his gesture of kindness and let him go. He didn’t have to come over at all. But he did and that was rather inspiring. I miss these interactions since I stopped driving. I realized that this was one of those moments and I needed to share it. I got out and walked to his vehicle.
Justin is his name and his wife Amy was also in the truck, along with their daughter. They were waiting for another daughter who is a freshman this year. I might add that freshman often don’t get to march. She plays the Euphonium. At least I think she does. My constant brain fog makes it difficult to remember details so my apologies to Justin and Amy if I got that wrong.
I made some new friends Friday night. I also remembered for the first time in a while that we need to keep sharing acts of kindness like this. The ripple effect of kindness is real and Justin is a true kindness warrior. I look forward to seeing them at the games.
Justin and Amy, as you make your drive through the many roads of your life I hope to see you out there, under StreetLights on a Saturday Friday night.
Thanks for the kindness!
Be love. Be kind.
We are all connected.
Life is better with a soundtrack!
As always, any post I make comes with a little music. This first song is one I often used to play on the drive home in the late night or early morning. As late as it was when we left the school parking lot, it seemed appropriate.
Since Justin clearly does alot of driving and since I have done my fair share, this one also came to mind…
#kindness #purposefulkindness #drivingawaydepression #WhatAWonderfulWorld #hope #peace #joy #love #streetlights #grace #TheKindnessClub #lifeisbetterwithasoundtrack #weareallconnected #findingjoy
#AllMyEmptySpaces
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StreetLights 
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