Earlier this week I found a free futon on the ward list. The owner showed me a photo and it looked pretty good, so we made arrangements for me to pick it up tonight. Of course, I still don't have a car and my roommates and I contemplated strapping the thing to Sachi's car, but we didn't have any rope. I asked my home teacher if he had some (what are home teachers for if not to hook you up with some rope, right?) and he did not, but he DID have an SUV. Huzzah!
The plan was, futon at 8, then back in time to meet up with Kelly to go to Paige's birthday dinner in China Town. Lately I've heard several people say "when man makes plans, God laughs". Now I understand. Kaleb came and took me to the futon owner's home, we loaded up the mattress and when we went for the frame we realized it was probably too big for the SUV, but Kaleb took the back off and it seemed like a much better fit. Some other guy was there picking up free stuff and Kaleb enlisted him to help carry the frame down the stairs. Just as they're heading out the neighbor across the hall comes out asking who's truck was out front (gotta love the South. everything that's not a car is a truck). Kaleb says "it's mine" and dude says "well you're getting towed." So Kaleb goes running after the tow truck, catches up to it, and the guy just looks at him out the window like "sucks to be you buddy." FOR REALS?!
I think everyone involved felt horrible. The neighbor for not seeing it soon enough, the futon owner for not warning us not to park there, her friend b/c it was just a yucky situation, and me (perhaps most of all me) b/c if it wasn't for me Kaleb and his SUV never woulda been there at all. Sad face, right?
Luckily Kaleb's girlfriend lives around the corner. She picked him up and took him to the tow lot while I stood guard over the half of the frame that we'd brought downstairs. I told Kaleb I'd pay for it, but he insisted on paying half. Even so my mind was racing trying to guess how much this was going to cost. Have I mentioned I'm really poor right now? Like for reals super poor. My last paycheck came about 13 months ago. Poor. When he gets back he tells me that it was $150 and while that's a lot of money I knew it coulda been SO much worse. So we load up the frame and he waits in the car while I go upstairs for his tools and the last piece of the frame. The girl that gave me her futon for free then insisted on chipping in to pay for the tow! I couldn't believe it! She just handed me money! I didn't even look at it. It could have been $3 and I would have been so grateful to her. But it wasn't $3. It was three $20. This chick not only gave me her futon for free, but she then gave me $60! I'm still kinda in shock.
Kaleb and I squeezed all that stuff into his SUV and then ourselves into the seats (pushed WAY forward) and the back wouldn't close and we passed a cop and we thought for sure we were gonna get a ticket. But we didn't. We got it all back to my apt and put back together and then I handed him a check for my half of the remaining tow money... and you know what? He decided he didn't want it! Seriously. What is going on in the universe tonight!? He said we'll just count the $60 as my part and I can make dinner and call it even. I am the luckiest and most blessed person in the entire world tonight. It might not seem like a huge deal to anyone else, but I was kinda freaked out about how to wring that money out of my budget and then it was all just magically taken care of and then some.So this is my magical futon.
It will forever remind me to be generous and kind... and of that night I got a guy's car towed.
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