Interesting Request #4

I had an interesting errand in November of 2005 and it made me think of the giving spirit that is still out there to this day. I had an errand come in from another errand service on a Wednesday. They had a client who wanted someone to purchase a bed that was only available at one store and deliver it to his brother on that Saturday.

After giving me the information, I told her that her problem was solved. I had a membership to that store and a truck, so I could make the delivery myself. I then received a call the next day saying there was a misunderstanding and she actually needed the bed there on Friday. I called my sister and bribed her with lunch to go with me.

I estimated that it would take about three hours. No problem or so I thought. I called the brother the next morning to find out when he wanted the bed delivered. I wanted to get a head start as traffic gets BAD. I got directions online, gathered my paperwork and headed out the door. I went to the gas station, filled up my gas tank, picked up my sister, and then started my time.

Since she lived down the road from me, it took less than 10 minutes to get to the store. I had the item number and know the bed is there, since I had not only checked online, but called the store the day before to make sure it was in stock. I went up to the manager and ask for help in getting the bed.

We set out to find the bed. He starts looking up and down the aisles and states that he can not find the bed. We both know it is there because he checked on his computer to make sure it was. He was having a hard time finding it and it was putting me behind schedule. I had to call the brother to tell him I was running behind. After 40 minutes of looking, the manager finally found the bed.

It took another 20 minutes for them to get the bed down, get me through the register, and get the bed out to my car. Now this bed was in one piece, was almost 175 pounds, and was almost 7 feet long. The guy who was helping me did not want to get hurt and went off to find someone to help him. I was looking around because I wasn’t sure how we were going to get it in the car.

Two NICE looking college guys came by and asked if I needed help. I said that I did and without hesitating, they lifted up the bed and put it in the back of my car. All I could say was, “Thank you so much for your help!” over and over and smile. As we were leaving, we happened to pass by the guys’ car and they waved at us. I was telling my sister that I wish I could have given them something for helping me. I then told her that I wanted to go and buy some $5 and $10 dollar gift cards at various places and hand them out to people that helped me, like those guys. She thought it was a neat idea. We then headed off to the brother’s house to deliver the bed.

The drive was not that bad, but I was still behind schedule by an hour already. When we got there, the brother took one look at the bed and asked how we were going to get it into his apartment. After standing around for 15 minutes, we decided to open the box and carry in the bed piece by piece. As we were taking turns carrying in different pieces, there happened to be a gentleman working in the garage two doors down. He came over and helped the brother carry in the big pieces of the bed. I needed a gift card for him, but didn’t have one yet. The brother and I thanked him for his help.

I then headed off to get my sister her lunch she deserved. What started out as a 3 hour errand ended up being a 4 1/2 hour errand, but during that time we had people helping us out who didn’t need to, but decided they would help anyway. I have always believed that what goes around comes around.

If I let someone in while I am in traffic, I know there will be a time when someone lets me in when I need to. If I open the door for someone, regardless of whether they tell me “Thank you” or not, I always tell someone “Thank you” if they open the door for me. These are all gestures that aren’t too hard to perform.

This season lend an extra hand to someone, whether it is your client or not. You will be rewarded. Who knows, someone could be watching you in your business outfit with your company name on it and see you helping someone out and because they were impressed they will call you to ask for help themselves.