Beautiful Surprise

Beautiful Surprise

My day job is located in a small strip of offices in a part of town which is incredibly unattractive and on a street where, all too often, there are many questionable people. We have been in this space for over two years now and during that time our landlord has been remiss in his duties as far as the exterior upkeep has gone. Generally, especially after weekends, the place is ankle-deep with cigarette butts and shattered beer bottles. The ugliness was wearing on me. Several days ago, with the help of my mother who adores all things yard work-related, I set about righting the situation with a rake, a shovel, a broom and some flowers. We toiled away and, inch by inch, the place began to look quite homey. Eventually, the CPA in the office to the south of us came out to lend a hand. He began shoveling up the flower beds and willingly escorted the insane amount of garbage bags to the dumpster in the back of the building. Within a half hour, the manager of the drug testing facility to the north of us came out with his rake, broom and hose to tidy up his store front. Ten minutes later, the man across the street was out, cleaning his strip. By the time we were completed with the project my mother and I had started, everyone who was at their offices that weekend day had come out and cleaned up their areas. And, amazingly enough, come Monday morning, there was only one lonely beer bottle. Today, six days later, I took my father's weed whacker with me to work in lieu of a lawn mower. The thing was heavy and it felt like it was going to vibrate my arms right of their sockets when I used it. However, it was an amazing makeshift mower and I whacked away at the overgrown grass until the strip was edged and beautifully neat. While I was "mowing," I noticed another of the office managers across the street come out of his office to fertilize his strip. The longing for neatness and beauty seemed to be spreading. With my "mowing" finished, I grabbed the rake and broom to clean up the trimmings which were swirling about in the relentless spring wind. Gradually, the loose dry blades were rounded up in heaps along the strip and I was beginning to sweat as the day grew closer to noontime heat. I was in the process of sweeping out the gutters when I glanced up to watch two drunken men wending their way up the sidewalk. It was not yet noon and these men were so inebriated that they teetered and swayed with the alcohol that coursed through their veins. When they drew even to me, the reek of alcohol was so pervasive I actually gagged. And then, one of them stopped. His friend tottered scarily; enough that I thought he would pitch forward and hit his face on the cement. I felt wary of both of them. I held my breath uncertainly, a little bit afraid. The fellow who stopped first only paused long enough to reach for the rake that was leaning against the window. In a matter of ten seconds flat, he had rounded up all of the grass trimmings into one massive pile. "Do you have a garbage can or bag?" He asked in words slightly slurred. "I will go get one," I said. He grinned unevenly at me, swayed noticeably and laughed, "Well, hurry! It ain't like I got all day, dearie." Inside, I grabbed a garbage bag and came back out with it, snapping it open. He got down on his knees. "Hold it open pretty lady and I will put this all in." Faster than I could blink, the grass strip was even and the gutter was spotless. He stood up carefully, so as to not tip over, I imagine and grinned awkwardly again. "Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it," I said, feeling infinitely surprised by this man's gesture. "It's what a gentleman does, my lady." He drunkenly tipped forward in an attempt at a gallant bow. "Yes, well, thank you for showing me how a true gentleman behaves." He grinned, nodded and bowed dramatically again, "Of course, my lady. Have yourself a beautiful day." The two of them moseyed on in a dragging step, leaning against one another for support every now and then. I stood there, jaw agape and marveled at the contagion of beauty sweeping through my world in most delightfully surprising ways. ©Angie K. Millgate 4/4/08