Buffing Out the Conundrums

Buff:  To clean or shine with a buff.

I'm a car guy.  I really like cars.  I've bought a few of them over the years and I've loved most of them.  I don't consider myself really all that materialistic - kind of standard greedy, a common sentiment among pretty materialistic people who are trying to convince you that they're not  - but I love the cars.  I wax them and wash them and try to park them out of harm's way.  I bought what very well may be my last new car here in The New City - that explosive grinding sound you here is SuperK laughing and cursing and choking with rage all at once - and people have beat the hell out of it.  The agony and the ecstasy of the urban lifestyle.  

I went on a long, beautiful hike in an old growth forest yesterday with SuperK and a few friends from The Program - wonderful day, wonderful people - getting back to this car late in the afternoon.  The note on the windshield, written on a min-sized paper plate, an odd selection in my opinion, was from a woman apologizing profusely for hitting the parked car some time during the day.  The damage didn't appear to be too bad but it was still a stinker of a note.  I called the woman and she called back.  She told me to have the damage buffed out and to send her the bill.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.  I'm not sure I want to screw around taking the car somewhere to repair the minor damage, which pales with some of the more egregious thwacks by shadowy miscreants who did not leave notes.  

Anyway, it just made me feel good about life.  Such simple things, responsibility and honesty.  On the way home from the hike, before I was confronted with the mini paper plate,  we stopped for coffee.  While I was washing the bear repellant off of my hands SuperK ordered 3 cups of coffee, noticing after the fact that she had left her wallet in the car.  There were people in line that she didn't want to hold up but she owed the money which was not in her possession.  A conundrum.  The guy behind her said: "The coffees are on me."  She offered to fetch her purse and return the favor.

"No," he said.  "I had a great day.  I just finished a round a golf and it was a great day."

It's not that complicated.