"Free Knowledge and Free Gas"...

I sometimes believe that god sends down little tests for us to see how we handle them and then evaluates us accordingly...

A prime example of this was when yesterday a friend of mine called to see if there was any way I look after her friends' little boy after school for a couple of hours each day. Of course, I love to help people, (and she was going to pay me money to do it) so just before I was about to say "yes" I thought I had better ask what the child's age was. The answer was 6, "perfect" I thought, Sam's age, they can play together...

Now there is one "child" who shall remain nameless for his sake, that Sam or another child in their class has a problem with every day at school. Yesterday, this "child" hit Sam right above his eye because Sam touched his easter bunny and the "child" thought sam was going to take it. The principal dealt with this one and told me what happened when I went to pick Sam up. The day before that this "child" kicked a little girl and got sent to the principals office and the day before that the same "child" nearly poked Sam's eye out with a pencil...

So going back to the conversation with my friend... after delving further for information about her friends' "child", it turns out to be, yes... none other than our little trouble maker at school. What do I say? I have told my son to stay away from this "child" numerous amounts of times, how can I possibly look after him after school and let them play? Argggh.

Most of the people who know me well, also know that I am a terrible liar and follow the "honesty is the best policy" rule for everything... so I told my friend the truth and apologized for saying "no". She completely understood and filled me in with a little more detail about this "childs" background, which includes being from a broken home and his mother being a drug addict, which would explain why he behaves like he does at school. So now, the "test" from god seems a little clearer, it wasn't a test at all, but merely a way to inform me of what this child is going through, so I can be a little more tolerant of his behavior.

I still have a meeting with Sam's teacher tomorrow though to try to keep Sam away from this "child" as he has to sit at the same table as him at lunch... but at least now I can state my case with a little more compassion for what he must be going through...


The second test happened a couple of weeks ago at a gas station. I pulled up at Fishersville Sheetz to fill my car with gas and realized that it was $0.20 per gallon more expensive than the newly opened Sheetz in W'boro, so I decided to put $8 only in my car just to let me finish running my errands for the day and then I would fill up at the other station.

So I whacked it on the credit card and went inside Sheetz to use the bathroom. As I am sitting on the potty (sorry for the visual) I look down and see a rolled up bunch of dollar bills on the floor. When I have finished my business, I reach down and pick up the notes, looking around me in the bathroom as I do so like someone could be watching me...

It turns out that there is exactly $8 (yes, the same amount that I put in my car) in the bundle... So as I am walking out of Sheetz and back to my car feeling all smug that I just basically got "free gas", I look down at the neatly folded bunch of notes, that look like they have just fallen out of some old lady's pocket, and suddenly a guilt wave passes over me. I must have sat in my car for a good 5 minutes contemplating what to do as I knew that most probably if I took them back into the gas station, the money would end up in some employees' pocket... but at the same time "why should it end up in mine"?

So I decided to take the money back in - after all it isn't about someone else's actions that god was testing me on... it was mine - and handed the wad of notes to the gas attendant, who answered "oh great, thanks very much", like I had just given him a tip or something... but at least I was clear of guilt and who knows, I like to think that some nice little old lady did go back to that gas station and get given her money back... it is a nice thought... as for me? well I think (hope) that I passed that test.