The Perfect Song Blog

I was in WalMart yesterday looking for teeth whitening paste.  I felt a presence and looked around to see an elderly man dressed neatly in an out-of-style suit sitting in an electric wheelchair.  The  damned thing was so quiet I never heard him sneak up on me.  He glanced at me then pointed to a box on the bottom shelf.  “Would you hand that to me?”  When an old man in an out-style-suit riding an electric wheelchair asks you for something you really have no choice.

I mean I could have said “No.  Get it yourself,” and walked away, and he would be perfectly able to get it himself.  The only reason he couldn’t get it now was that I stood in front of it.  But I never thought about saying no.  I was surprised, I guess, that he’d pulled up and I never heard him.  Usually people in wheelchairs make noise.

I bent down, picked up the box and handed it to him.  “Thanks.”

I think what bothered me about this whole transaction was that he never said hi and his thanks was cursory.  He silently wheeled off leaving me feeling like an unpaid WalMart worker.  I wanted to follow him because I’m sure he did that to anyone unlucky enough to be near the stock he wanted.

Down the street from WalMart is a party store. As I headed back to the Taurus, I saw a young couple pushing the door with their rear ends and pulling out helium balloons on strings.  I thought, if I could I would wait for a sunny summer day and give everyone in the world a  red and yellow balloon.  I would also give them their favorite ice cream cone.  I would tell them to watch their red and yellow balloons sway on their strings against the bright blue sky as they licked their ice cream cones.

Then I would tell them to feel that moment as deeply as they could and store it where they could quickly haul it back out and re-feel that feeling when they need it in the days and years ahead.