sOnny-side up ...

My daughter called me just as I was heading out the door. Her car had been vandalized -- the driver's side window completely smashed out. Glass everywhere. The interior soaked from the pouring rain. Very traumatic for her -- I could hear it in her voice. For me: another day of dealing with multiple levels of mind-numbing bureaucracy. Police. Auto insurance. Glass repair shops. I groaned.

As I called Winnipeg Police Services on my way to the scene of the crime, I admit I wasn't optimistic. I've been underwhelmed by WPS when I've reported vandalism and theft in the past. The phone number is usually busy. Once I finally get through, I'm met with indifference or incompetence ... or both.

This time was different. Way different. I got through on the first ring. A pleasant voice answered the phone. The person taking my call was knowledgeable and considerate. It was a first-rate experience from beginning to end. Later in the day, a follow-up call from WPS was equally impressive. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give the non-emergency division of Winnipeg Police Services an 11. And I'd give the people who conceived and implemented the overhaul of this division a 12. Someone behind the scenes is doing something right.

My phone calls with Dr. Hook towing and Autopac were equally good. I was 3 for 3 on the day. Wow.

But indifference and incompetence snagged me on the next stop of the day. I should have seen it coming. I have a long-standing grudge against drive-thru's ... especially McDonald's drive-thru's. They take forever. They never get my order right. They overcharge me. Still, I'm a sucker for Egg McMuffins and I was in a rush, so I drove up to the Grant Park McD's drive-thru and hoped for the best. Alas, once again, they took forever. Once again, they got my order wrong (they gave me a Sausage McMuffin instead of an Egg McMuffin). I have no idea how they stay in business. (Maybe it's the overcharging part.)

I just gots to have my eggs, so I pulled into the A&W drive-thru on Waverley and tempted fate once again. I didn't wait too long to order. That was a good sign. The person taking my order was friendly and alert. Another good sign. She handed me my Bacon n' Egger and I was outta there in a flash.

Hoping to make up for lost time, I wheeled around the drive-thru, raced through the parking lot, and made a bee-line for the exit. That's when I noticed a blur of orange in the corner of my eye. It was my drive-thru attendant, racing across the parking lot in the winter wind, frantically waving, flagging me down. I hit the brakes, rolled down my window, and she handed me my credit card. The credit card I had left behind in my big rush to get back on the road. Then, she did me an even bigger favour: "I know what it's like to lose a credit card", she said. "I didn't want you to go through the same thing".

Rush, rush, rush. The story of my life. I rush because I've got so many important things to do. The world needs me.

But I don't think anything I did that day was as important as the fast-food worker who chased me down in the middle of a parking lot ... because she didn't want me to go through what she had gone through: the inconvenience and frustration of losing a credit card.

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you".

Some people get it. One of them is wearing an orange uniform and making minimum wage down at the Waverley A&W. The guy driving the black Pontiac SUV is grateful for the lesson learned.