ONE SCROOGE, ONE SANTA

I began this post days before Christmas, but just did not have time to finish it.  I have updated it and am posing it anyway......

Two very different events took up my attention in the last week or so before Christmas....
 
Firstly, T, the guy I mentioned previously as having upset me on Facebook, was up to his tricks again!

I posted a dog quotation: 'One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you're feeling blue is that he doesn't try to find out why.' and his reply to that was: 'Those who claim the greatest affinity with a pet do not see the abject misery of abandonment when they are absent. Such animals have a life of repeated emotional stress. If you believe a dog has feelings then you can't decide when they apply.'

At first, all I said in reply was  'Happy Christmas'!' I also posted a rather cheeky status: 'Bah humbug! Scrooge is alive and still kicking!' Having thought about it for some time though , I decided enough was enough! Posting such a message as his to someone who has lost a dog recently seems to me to have no purpose other than to upset them. It was worse happening just before Christmas too; he really is a Scrooge! 

I did write to him, explaining why I was deleting him and briefly touching on the previous occasions when he seriously upset me (like pulling apart two things I posted on my 60th birthday, but failing to say even one little word of good wishes to me.) I tried to be reasonable in my letter and said that when I visited their house I was made very welcome and that I had liked him then. I also wished him all the best for the future. He never even bothered to reply to my letter, which I think just highlights his lack of respect for me. I am so glad now that he is gone, that I will hopefully never have to worry about his comments again.

My main worry about my disagreement with him is that the old schoolfriend I reconnected with in the spring of 2011 is very friendly with his wife. I do not want to spoil their relationship, although luckily she is supportive and seems to have had her own issues with this guy and in fact deleted him herself, although I do not know why. She says that if her friendship with T's wife is affected by the argument with me, then it means it was not a genuine one. I guess she is right, although I would still feel guilty. Only time will tell what transpires.

Oh well.......

The other thing that happened immediately after the above events had upset me was much nicer, although a little sad too. On the Sunday afternoon one week before Christmas, hubby and I called into a local garden centre for a coffee. As we drove in, we saw that the car park was deserted apart from a car with two guys standing in front of it. There was a board advertising a car washing service. Straight away we could see that the guy nearest to us looked miserable, he had misery written all over his face. It was a cold afternoon and there obviously wasn't much business around, so who could blame him? 

We got out from our car and had to walk past the two guys. My husband somehow got into a conversation about Christmas trees and they told him that all the garden centre's trees (which were not exactly cheap) had sold out the previous week. The miserable-looking guy then volunteered the information that he doesn't celebrate Christmas any more, not since his wife walked out on him four years ago.

What can you say to that? We talked to him for a while and tried to sound sympathetic. My husband started rambling on about how people these days give up on relationships too easily. He then said something about how we could have got divorced several times (can't you always rely on guys to say something nice? lol!). I then made a joke, telling my husband: "It's not too late, you know, I could still get rid of you!" To my surprise, the miserable guy laughed.- and, when my husband wished him a happy Christmas as we left them to go into the garden centre, he smiled and wished us the same. He had a really lovely smile, when he wasn't being miserable. We had really done nothing at all apart from talking to this guy for a few minutes, but somehow I had a strong sense that we had really cheered him up, at least temporarily. He did not seem like the same guy we had seen on the way in.

We went into the cafe there to have our coffee and my husband was delighted because we got a free mince pie to eat with it, as they had over-ordered! We sat there for  some time, happily drinking and munching away and, in fact, got out the cards and the cribbage board and had a game of crib (something we tend to do quite often when we are out and about).

When we got back into the car park it was almost dark and there was no sign of the two guys. As I went to open the door of the car, something made me pause for a moment. Something..... maybe some sixth sense..... put an idea into my head. Before getting into the car, I looked at the ground..... and once inside, I looked around me. Then I saw what I had half been expecting......

My husband got in, after putting something into the boot. "Do you think?" I asked "That those two guys might have cleaned our car for us?" My husband looked surprised. "Don't be silly!" he said, but I pointed out that there was water on the windscreen and told him I had seen some on the ground outside too. Doubtingly, he got out again and inspected the bodywork, before getting back in and saying: "You know, I think they have. There was some bird poo on it that I had been meaning to wash off, but it is not there any more."

As we drove out from the car park, hubby spotted one of the two guys (the companion of the miserable one) driving out too and waved to him. We think maybe he had been waiting to see if we spotted what they had done.

You know, I don't care about cars, they can be big or small, clean or dirty - but somehow that gift of a car wash was probably the nicest gift I had this Christmas. I really pray that the guy's life improves soon and that he never again spends Christmas alone and miserable. I really do not think he deserves to.