Life's Little Surprises

The other day, I had three unexpected little surprises. Now I call them “Life’s Little Surprises.”

I went to Staples in the afternoon to buy a new printer. At the same time, I brought along an old hp printer to be recycled. I have read in their Ads that Staples would give a rebate of $50.00 for anyone who brings along a printer to be recycled, but the customer had to buy a new printer not less than $179.00 in value to avail of their promotion. That’s exactly what I had in mind to do when I went to the store. When I arrived in the Staple store, there was a Filipina lady(also a customer) who saw me and apparently recognized me. But I had no recollection whatsoever who she was. After a while, she engaged in a conversation with me as if she knew me for a long time. She asked all sorts of questions about computers and printers and the like. Then when I told her that I was at the store because I was planning to buy a new printer, and that I brought along an old printer to be recycled so I get a rebate….to my great surprise, she immediately offered to buy a new printer for me. Now, would I call this a coincidence, or some kind of ‘good luck?’ I don’t know. I just thanked her for her overwhelming generosity. While driving home afterwards, it got me to think about what real generosity really mean - when you give something without expecting anything in return.

The second surprise. In the afternoon, I went to a Filipino restaurant to order some food. When the owner of the restaurant saw me, she declined to accept any payment for all my orders. In spite of my insistence, she would accept none of it. “Well, “ I said. “If you don’t accept my payment, you would go bankrupt.” She just smiled at me and said..” just remember me in your prayers.” Again, I was flabbergasted.

In the evening, I was invited by a friend to go for dinner- which I gladly accepted. The dinner was supposed to be at 7 PM. But due to some works I had to finish, I went to the restaurant somewhat late. When I arrived at the restaurant, to my great surprise and shock, a chorus of friends greeted me with a belated happy birthday. Talk about a surprise birthday party…that was it. I never expected that my friends would surprise me with a big bash birthday party. I almost fainted in shock. But, anyway, we had a wonderful evening together. I thanked all of them for all their warm wishes and generosity. It’s so nice and comforting to have friends who love you and whom you can depend on.

While lying down in bed that night, I could not but thanked God for such a wonderful experience I had during the day. And talk about life’s surprises…I had them that day.