It was a very cold Saturday when I headed out to run an errand. I’d walked one dog, played ball with the other one, taken down the tree, packed away the Christmas stuff and done three loads of laundry. My youngest was on a plane on her way back to Baltimore.
I passed the tiny woman on the corner of Camino Ramon and Paraiso. She sat with her bags of oranges and her bouquets of flowers. Yesterday she’d had her young daughter with her. Today she was alone.
It’s so cold! What a hard way to make a living, I thought to myself as I headed up 680 to my favorite thrift store, the Garrett, which had been closed for the past two weeks for the holidays.
It started to sprinkle as I got off the freeway at North Main and waited to turn into the parking lot. I wasn’t the only one to get the re-opening email.
I found lots of treasures, vintage plates, a tea cup with no saucer, a beautiful English cup and saucer with pink flowers, and then the deal of the day, a never-been-worn black leather jacket with zippers everywhere, half off because clothes are always half off on Saturdays at the Garrett. I tried it on, a size large but really, it was much smaller than that. The leather was so soft, I had to buy it for $22.50. A friend I ran into tried it on as well and announced, “This is not a size large.”
It was pouring by the time I left with a bag and box of dishes. I took the surface roads home since it was raining so hard. I jumped on 680 for one exit to avoid downtown stoplights. When I got off the freeway, the last thing I was thinking of was the small woman and her oranges. I was thinking about what I was going to heat up for lunch.
But there she was, sitting in the pouring rain, the bags of oranges at her feet. She had a blanket over her legs, bouncing in the cold.
Poor thing! She had no car, had been dropped off at that corner to spend the day selling. What a miserable situation.
I should get her something hot to drink..
By the time I got home 12 blocks later, I was on a mission. I heated up a pot of water, got the extra thermos out of the pantry (a two-pack from Costco), pulled the rain poncho out of the front closet, grabbed a Christmas cup and some cocoa, tea, instant coffee, and another bag of granola bars and stuff. I plucked a fleece jacket from the donation pile and grabbed the two pairs of socks the Indian School in South Dakota had sent me to encourage a donation.
Does she have an umbrella? I forgot an umbrella. Maybe there’s one in the back seat.
I drove the twelve blocks back to her corner. I saw the wet plastic bags of oranges and knew she was still there. I pulled up next to her, put on my flashers and got out. As I spoke to her, I realized she didn’t speak English but only managed to say agua caliente as I handed her the stuff. Then I gave her the cup, opened the thermos and poured it for her. She kept saying thank you, and my Spanish wasn’t coming when I asked her what time she would be picked up.
She took the cup, wrapped her bare hands around it, drinking the hot water with no flavoring.
I bought a huge bag of oranges, even though my stomach won’t let me eat citrus. I can always take them to chorus and leave them on the check-in table.
I felt good as I drove away. I can’t save the kids in Gaza, and I can’t get the Israeli hostages back, but I can do one small thing for someone who is uncomfortable, to let them know that somebody sees them and cares that they are sitting alone in the pouring rain.
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 