No Good Deed.....

Yesterday it occurred to me that my niece’s birthday is in 5 days. She lives in TX. I was really pushing my luck as the delivery window was closing. Luckily I’d purchased a gift a few weeks ago and then bought the finishing touch while in Disneyland. Unluckily I hadn’t gotten around to mailing it yet. Or wrapping it. Or doing anything more than think about how I should be sending it.

So, Steve got home before 6 last night and I busted out a package, shoved a pen and my address book in my purse and hauled cheeks to the Post Office to mail it off, knocking on wood the whole time that it would arrive by her birthday.

Imagine my horror when I arrived at the Centerville Post Office only to find that they close at 5 pm. What the dickens? I thought they were open until 6 pm. Not only was this bad news for my niece, but this was bad news for me because now I would have to take my kids the next day… and personal experience tells me that kids whose names begin with the letter "J" don’t mix well with the Postal Service.

As I slumped in defeat, sitting in the empty parking lot, I decided that this day could easily be remedied by getting Subway sandwiches for dinner. Nothing says healing like a $5 Footlong! So, I shoved the pen, address book and package back in my purse and headed to the drive-up window… $5 Footlong!

Again, that evil and fickle Lady Rotten-Luck struck and the $5 Footlong promotion had ended the day before. One day late… always! Still, I took the disappointment like a man, placed my order and pulled forward. I rummaged around in my purse and then itched my face and nose a bit with my knuckle (that IS important to the story) while waiting for the Subway sandwich artist to work his miracle.


When I handed the worker my debit card I noticed that my right hand was smeared with blue. INK! Then I noticed my left hand was covered too. I dug around in my purse and found the culprit. I’d apparently broken the head off my pen in my haste. Ink was even smeared on the package I hadn’t sent. Bummer.

Being a Girl Scout – I was in Brownie’s for about a year before I got bored of setting goals and then not meeting them – I always carry wet wipes with me. Okay, that probably has more to do with my role as a mother than a Girl Scout. Anyhow, I proceeded to clean up and was relieved to see that Huggies means business.

About the time I finished, the sandwiches were ready, so I flashed the guy a smile and pulled out. As I was waiting to pull into traffic I happened to look in the rearview mirror. GASP!

I doubt it will come as a shock to read that my face was streaked with ink. And, perhaps the best part? My entire right nostril was ringed with it, looking like I’d shoved an ink-stained finger right up in there and was digging around for gold. While it’s embarrassing for me to even type this, imagine how I felt when I realized that the Subway employees were certainly enjoying a little chuckle at my expense.

How did I go from attempting to make a little girl’s birthday dreams come true to looking like a super dedicated nose picker in a matter of minutes?

This is once again proof that no good deed goes unpunished!