Be the good

Settle in, friends, for a story of small town, instinct, goodwill and a happy ending ...

Scruffy Man, fresh off an extra-long Friday at work, swings by the local grocery for a few necessities. Good fortune shining on him, he quickly happens on his Awesome Neighbors. Banter and shopping ensue, followed eventually by a solo check-out.

Dropping groceries in his vehicle, Scruffy Man turns to take his cart back into the store when he hears The Voice. Seriously? OK. OK. Over to the cart return Scruffy Man goes, as grumpiness sets in because Scruffy Man always takes his cart back in the store. And that’s when he sees it ... a brown wallet left in one of the unattended carts. Smiling now, Scruffy Man checks contents of said wallet and looks around for Wallet Guy (who Scruffy Man doesn’t know). No luck. Damn. OK. No worries. Back into the store Scruffy Man heads when The Voice stops him again. Yeah. True. This is a pile of cash. And yeah, why force others to confront those choices. OK. OK. Plan B, it is. Back to looking at the driver’s license when Scruffy Guy sees his Awesome Neighbors again. Situation explained, Awesome Neighbor Mom does her social media thing while Awesome Neighbor Daughter shoots back into the store for a quick canvass. No immediate luck on either front, so Scruffy Man decides to drop groceries at home and then drive out to the country address on the driver’s license.

Back at his house and groceries put away, Scruffy Man is just about to plug in what he hopes is Wallet Man’s actual address when Awesome Neighbor Mom calls to say her social media thing netted a score and Wallet Guy is at the grocery store waiting. Minutes later, a seriously happy ending.

(Be the good, y’all, especially with all the not-so-good that seems to be surrounding us right now. Be the good.)