Random Acts

Right now you get a little detour before I jump in to retelling the tales of the last semester. It goes something like this:

Today I was doing my laundry. Around the time I was transferring from washers to dryers, Fox Sports Network was making some declaration about how Gale Sayers was the sixth best running back ever. I thought of the laser beam that forms from all of the Names of Fame in the Memorial Stadium opening video they show at all our home football games, and how it blasts forth from Mr. Sayers name to destroy the opposing team’s helmet. Because, as we all know, without your helmet, you can’t play football.

Then a man walked in the door of the laundromat. He walked around the machines to me and presented me with five two-dollar bills, neatly paper-clipped together, saying, “Here you go.” I was very much taken aback for five seconds as he turned to leave, wondering if this man had just seen and very much enjoyed Pay It Forward. But instead I collected myself enough to say, “What’s up?” (How intelligent.) Mystery Man replied, “Merry Christmas. Pass it on if you feel like it.” Then he walked out the door and disappeared melodramatically into the night.

Well, maybe there’s hope for this old world yet.