This post has nothing to do with any of my regular topics, but it’s my site and I wanted to tell you a story from my evening. Sometimes life has a funny way of showing you how random things really are, while also reminding you of our inherent interconnectedness. OK, enough fluff. Let me get to the story.

I got through watching a film called Housebound a couple hours ago. It was great and I heartily recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a solid comedy-horror flick. But that’s not the tale I came to tell. After the movie was over, Nora fell asleep on Skype. I was sobered up after a few beers during the show, so when she passed out I decided that I needed some food. Rather than go to my usual 24-hour Mexican joint (La Milpa) down the road, I decided to make a very short drive to the McDonald’s around the corner for a small snack.

When I pulled up, a black gentleman was standing at the drive-thru. He looked quite angry and asked me to let him get in my vehicle so he could get some grub. As it turns out, they have a rule that says you cannot order without being in a car. Now, I’m from Memphis and I’ve seen it all. At first, I was skeptical, to say the least. So, he kinda got a little belligerent with me. I told him, “Nigga, I’m not paying for your food.” I’d seen this gimmick before and didn’t like the way this was potentially headed.

The McDonald’s attendant said he could order if I let him walk beside my car but she was still kinda hesitating. Eventually, I just let the guy get into my car. He proceeded to tell me not to worry about paying for my meal. It was on him, he said. We got to the window to get our stuff, then I paid for both with his card. I gave him the card back, but he got into a dispute over the order. They ended up giving him a free Double Quarter Pounder with cheese just to get us out of there.

Since he just lived down the street, I drove him home. It’s 37 degrees and rainy in Richmond right now, so I hope that helped him out a bit. On foot, it’s a pretty damn good walk, in a car, it’s nothing. When we pulled up to his house, I got his number in order to buy him a beer sometime in the future, and we went out separate ways. As I was getting ready to pull back onto the main road, I heard his phone beep.

I turned around, pulled back in, then proceeded to walk to the apartment he said he lived in. He was still outside at the door. I said, “Here you go man, you left your phone.” He proceeded to tell me I was one of the realest people he had met in a long while, since I could have just kept his phone for myself. We exchanged pleasantries once again, then I drove home, where I’m at now.

I’m typing this on my phone right now, as a matter of fact. It’s not a thrilling tale, although I think it says a lot about us as humans. I could have easily told him to fuck off. That almost happened, actually. He could have robbed me and stolen my car. We could have gotten into an argument and killed each other. Hell, anything could have happened. The point is, we helped each other based on nothing more than being two people who happened to meet in the middle of the night.

It’s not always smart to take a risk on our fellow man, but it damn sure feels great when it works out. So thank you, Wes. The food was good and the story I get to tell now was even better, in my opinion. I hope we get to have that beer together sometime soon.