Believe people tell the truth
Blog
Posted by kitt at 16:06 on 22 June 2005
Good lord, what was I thinking?
"Believe people tell the truth." Intellectually, I can believe this. Truly I can. No really.
Really.
But it's so hard.
Today was Kevin's first day, not yesterday as planned. I walked him around the house, showed him everything, and asked him if he wanted to work outside or inside today.
He said outside so I showed him the front yard, and all the tasks just waiting and ready for him. The first being move this pile of dirt onto that yard.
I had no gloves that would fit his hands (ours having been left at Mark's during the potential Kitt Launch), so we went to OSH to get him some gloves (and if we happened to buy more plants, eh, goodie!).
As we were leaving, we (meaning Kevin) was approached by a man in a dark suit and a sob story: his car ran out of gas (right over there!), and it's in the bike lane. He works at the Safeway at Shoreline and El Camino, and, although he had enough money for gas, they were going to charge him $8.95 for a gas can. It would be either $125 if they tow his car, or $8.95 now, could we help? "Here, look, see, this is my ID, so I'm not lying to you or anything." Did we have $9 to spare?
My thought, "Yeah, right." Kevin's reply, "I'll buy you a gas can."
What? Um, okay. So Kevin and I wandered back in the OSH and bought a gas can. Much to my surprise, the guy was still waiting after we returned. He thanked us, took the can and started walking (slowly) away.
We drove off.
Wow, these Smith brothers are all really, really nice guys. Generous, kind, honest. Wow.
But the whole thing just struck me as odd. I played with is for a while in my mind. For example, there is no Safeway at El Camino and Shoreline (it's at Middlefield). Cars don't get towed for being in the bike lane, for the most part, and it'll be more than $125 to get the car back if it is towed.
At lunch, I mentioned it to Kevin: "You know, that guy wasn't driving a car. The ID he showed you was an identification card, it wasn't a driver's license."
He replied, "Really? Well, I didn't give him the receipt, so he can't return the can for money."
And smart. Those Smith brothers are smart, too.
I had no gloves that would fit his hands (ours having been left at Mark's during the potential Kitt Launch), so we went to OSH to get him some gloves (and if we happened to buy more plants, eh, goodie!).
As we were leaving, we (meaning Kevin) was approached by a man in a dark suit and a sob story: his car ran out of gas (right over there!), and it's in the bike lane. He works at the Safeway at Shoreline and El Camino, and, although he had enough money for gas, they were going to charge him $8.95 for a gas can. It would be either $125 if they tow his car, or $8.95 now, could we help? "Here, look, see, this is my ID, so I'm not lying to you or anything." Did we have $9 to spare?
My thought, "Yeah, right." Kevin's reply, "I'll buy you a gas can."
What? Um, okay. So Kevin and I wandered back in the OSH and bought a gas can. Much to my surprise, the guy was still waiting after we returned. He thanked us, took the can and started walking (slowly) away.
We drove off.
Wow, these Smith brothers are all really, really nice guys. Generous, kind, honest. Wow.
But the whole thing just struck me as odd. I played with is for a while in my mind. For example, there is no Safeway at El Camino and Shoreline (it's at Middlefield). Cars don't get towed for being in the bike lane, for the most part, and it'll be more than $125 to get the car back if it is towed.
At lunch, I mentioned it to Kevin: "You know, that guy wasn't driving a car. The ID he showed you was an identification card, it wasn't a driver's license."
He replied, "Really? Well, I didn't give him the receipt, so he can't return the can for money."
And smart. Those Smith brothers are smart, too.