SERVICE WITH A SMILE
SERVICE WITH A SMILE
I don’t know how many people actually know what an actuary is but I can tell you being a backbone of society’s financial security is stressful beyond belief, and I was glad my workday was over and I was on my way home. My wife, Penny, and our five-year-old daughter, Aleia, waited for me to return.
You’d think someone with above average analytical prowess that would toil days and days on a financial solution, would have the sense God gave him to spend a few minutes to keep his windshield clean to get home safely. I’d applied the washer jets and wipers three times to no avail. The glass was still dirty and streaked with bird goo and something that resembled volcanic ash. I was westbound and the setting California sun wasn’t doing me any favors. I squinted through the cleaner smears and prayed I wouldn’t ram another car that cut me off like I narrowly missed that Chevy pickup a few minutes ago. I’ll clean it as soon as I get home.
I caught the red light at Edinger and breathed a sigh of relief. Only three blocks to go.
I was suddenly startled as a shadow fell across me and water began cascading down my windshield. An orange rag began circulating up and down and all around the window as I watched the streaks magically vanish.
A man was leaning over my car and a gnarled face stared back at me, a mere inch from the glass. The areas of the face not thickly populated with wiry grey and black hair was severely pockmarked, especially the unusually large reddened nose.
He deftly folded over his rag and dried the glass to a sparkling sheen.
He smiled broadly. He only had two upper teeth and three on the bottom and those were discolored and chipped. Yet his smile seemed heartfelt and reminded me of someone I couldn’t quite place at the moment.
I automatically reached into my pocket and pulled out a few coins and a five-dollar bill. I’d only brought ten dollars with me and had had a relatively cheap lunch at Costco, a slice of deluxe pizza and a raspberry iced tea. This was my change. The coins amounted to less than half a buck and would be insulting to present to the man. The five-dollar bill was far too extravagant to submit and I really couldn’t expect him to make change. I’d make it a point, in the future, to always have a couple of singles with me. I might see him again and would compensate him the next time.
As my light turned green, the man seemed to sense I wasn’t going to reward him. He stepped back, his smile never faltering, and he waved his rag goodbye as I drove away. I heard him shout, “God bless you.”
I turned the last corner onto my block and the blinding sun was once again in my eyes. Two doors from my home I clearly saw rapid movement in front of me and slammed on my brakes.
My own daughter, Aleia, peered up at me over the hood, unhurt. We’d seen her dart across the street without looking before, and had told her to look both ways. Her frightened eyes began to well with tears as were my own.
Then she saw it was her Daddy and she smiled. Her sweet lips parted and revealed two teeth on top and three on the bottom.
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