Something To Be Thankful For

I have had a couple experiences as of late that have really humbled me, if that is the right word. Maybe a better way to say it is that I have realized how much I have to be thankful for, and I supposed, with Thanksgiving next week, today was as good a day as any to describe my experiences. Please don't think I am bragging in anything I say here, it is meant only to convey how blessed I am, anyone who knows me could name more than several weaknesses of mine, so I am not trying to boast here, just so you know.

Blessing Number 1: The Gospel.
I have been reading this book as of late (don't worry, this isn't a book review post) called "Tortured for Christ" it was written by a man who suffered for his Christian beliefs in communist Romania. I have always been grateful for the Gospel, but I have never had to suffer anything near like what I read about. I won't go into exactly what they suffered, but it was literally the stuff of nightmares. When I hear what others have suffered for something I have always had abundant access to, including the Scriptures, the Sacrament, the Temple, and much more.

Blessing Number 2: My Family.
Throughout my youth, I have long taken this for granted as well. It was not until I went on a mission and into the homes of many, many, different families and individuals that I realized what a great blessing I had. I have two wonderful parents who love each other, as well as me. Four siblings that I love dearly and would do anything for, just as I know they would me. As a family, we sacrifice for, learn from, and teach one another. I could not ask for anything more in a family.

Blessing Number 3: My Friends.
Having been on the side of the spectrum where friends are scarce or non-existent, I am extraordinarily grateful to have such supportive, fun, caring friends as I have now. Many of my friends have sacrificed for me in ways that are more meaningful to me than they may ever know. Others have set examples for me that have impacted me a great deal.

Blessing Number 4: My Health.
In both mind and body I realize more all the time how richly I am blessed. I always kind of figured that school was as easy for others as it is for me. But when I think about how much more effort others put into certain study efforts than me, and have to work much harder to achieve the same results, I realize that a clear mind is a great blessing. (Once again, I'm not bragging, most of you who read this have the same blessing in this regard.) In the same vein, I am so grateful for a healthy body, all five senses, the ability to walk, run, swim, jump, bike, and play. The ability to do virtually anything I set my mind to. I hate to close on a sad note, but I want to share the story that set off this whole reflection on how good I've got it.

Yesterday, as I was driving down South Temple on my way to school when I saw a woman, holding a cane, indicating that she was blind, sitting in a "jazzy" motorized wheel chair, indicating that she couldn't walk, and worst of all, she had driven off the platform of the trax station, and gotten stuck half on the platform, the other half of the tracks themselves. She sat there, rocking back and forth, weeping. I saw her and my heart wrenched. I stopped my car in the middle of the road and ran out to help her. Two other guys were coming up at the same time and together we lifted her back onto the platform. She sit there, weeping, as the other two guys left. I had to resist the impulse to wrap her in my arms and just hold her, trying to offer her any comfort I could muster. Instead, I helped her across the street and asked her what I could do to help. Between gasping sobs, she cried that she was just trying to get to the Crown Burger, I told her I would help her, if I could just get my car out of the road. I parked, and ran back to her, now she was accompanied by a UTA attendant, who called for medical help because this young woman had likely broken her foot, in an attempt to brace herself from falling off the platform. My heart wrenched again, and I couldn't leave for fear that there was anything I could do for her. When the fire department arrived and started asking medical questions, I learned that she also had a damaged back from a bus incident a few months ago, she was on several anti-anxiety medications, and I noticed her "Jazzy" battery was almost dead, and she was only 19.

Even now, I have a difficult time keeping the image of this young girl out of my mind. I can still see her, stuck on the tracks, rocking back and forth and weeping because of pain, fear, humiliation, anxiety, frustration, and helplessness. All I wanted was to comfort her, I could only imagine the fear of being lost in a big city, without taking into account being blind, with heightened anxiety, not being able to walk, riding an electric wheelchair in which the battery could die any miunte.

Reflecting on these experiences, I cannot help but feel like I have no right to ever complain about anything, ever. On the contrary, I feel like I should do nothing but go about giving thanks every moment of every day.

Karaoke

I know it has been at least 20 years since I have blogged, but I admit that once school started, I am always too preoccupied with school assignments and so forth to put much thought and/or effort into blogging. But I did have an experience a while ago that I told some friends I would relate via blog, so I take this brief time I have at work to fill everyone in.
First off, doesn't the word "karaoke" look funny? It doesn't look like it sounds to me and I always have to look it up after wards to make sure I spelled it right. Anyway, where was I... Oh yeah, CostCo. As a matter of fact, I am at CostCo quite often these days, the reasons for which I may have to elaborate upon in a later post. This particular day we had taken a a "field trip" from work (my job is way close to CostCo) to go and get a bunch of free samples for lunch.
It was a good day, we made the usual round from the bakery through the cheese area and up and down the cold aisles to make sure we didn't miss any, ending on the waffles with real maple syrup. Now, there is a delicate art to sample-collection. If you can manage to get a good dialogue going with the sample people, then they will likely give you more and/or bigger samples. This worked particularly well on the chimichanga sample-man who ended up cutting them in thirds instead of fifths and offering multiple pieces to us, score! Yet I digress...
After all the cold aisles, we ended up wandering through the seasonal stuff and we came across a neato little karaoke machine, with built in microphones and speakers. Of course, for Tosh and I, this proved to be an irresistible opportunity to push the limits of our comfort zones and have a little fun at the same time. There were no good songs, and each one we attempted was thoroughly embarrassing. We didn't know most of them, but we did our best, the girls were too wimpy to join in, so they watched from afar and pretended not to know us. After a couple songs, we got a couple of fans, one older, foreign lady actually came up to us to express her enjoyment. We felt our deed was done, until I realized we had one more spectator who deserved a personal tribute...
It was at this point that a song I was actually somewhat familiar came on the screen. It was "All You Wanted" by Michelle Branch. Not the most ideal song for a couple of guys to sing, but it would have to do. The introductory notes started playing and I shouted into the microphone a dedication of this song to the waffle sample lady. It was as stirring a rendition of a Michelle Branch song I had ever sang publicly.
If you are wondering if there is a point to this blog post, you can stop now, because there really isn't. But if I had to make one up for some reason, I would say that it is a tribute to the people in our lives who labor tirelessly to bring joy and happiness to others without seeking personal recognition. In particular, the waffle ladies in each of our lives. So next time you are at CostCo, remember to thank the sample people for the joy that they bring into your life each and every visit, and if you are not in too much of a hurry, stop and sing them a little song. You will not only get the joy of bringing a smile (or look of utter confusion) to some random old-person's face, but you may just get another sample out of them, and that is what it is really all about.