Mr. Good-Deeds Goes To Town

Hick had a do-gooder moment when he was out STIMULATING the economy on Monday. I guess spending $1600 and 8 hours at Mick the Mechanic's shop wasn't enough stimulation for Hick himself. 

"I was sitting in the waiting room, drinking a Diet Mountain Dew, when this gal came in lugging a baby in a carrier. It was about a year old. Not really walking or talking yet. She had a bottle of juice. She looked at me the whole time. So I started talking to her.

'You have a bottle? Look here. I have a bottle, too!'

I wiggled my Mountain Dew bottle, and the baby's eyes bugged out. She held out her own bottle and looked at it. Then she dropped it. The mom said something to her about doing that all the time. It was a cute little baby. I guess what struck me most was that it was clean. Lots of times these days, people don't take care of their kids.

The Mom was probably in her mid-20s. Mick said her and her husband come in there quite a bit. They're having a little trouble. He had a kid, and she had a kid, and now they have this one. The Mom was wearing a nurse outfit, like scrubs."

"Maybe she's a CNA."

"She got out her billfold to pay for her car inspection. She handed him $11, and Mick said, 'Uh, the inspections is $12.' The Mom said, 'Oh. The temporary license is $11. I got mixed up. I'm going over there next.' She was digging out a five and some ones. I guess maybe she just bought a car with her Covid money. Thing is, a temporary license is only good for 30 days, and then she has to get the regular license anyway."

"Why would she do that?"

"Because she might not have had the money to pay the taxes on the car right now. You can't get the license until you pay the tax. But you can get a temporary. Anyway... I got to thinking about that as she walked out to the car. She bought a stick, and isn't very good at driving it. So she asked the guys if they'd turn it around for her to drive off the lot. She got the baby fastened in, and was sitting there for a minute. Nobody else was around.

I walked out and handed her a hundred. 'Here. Go pay the taxes and get the license on your car.' She said, 'You don't have to do that.' I told her, 'I know I don't have to. I want to.' She thanked me. She wasn't cryin' or nothin', but she was happy. I figured a hundred ain't gonna hurt me none, but it could make a difference to her. Sure, I could have said I'd follow her over to the license office, and pay it for her. But I figure she'll use it the best way she needs to."

"That would have been creepy, following her. Then you'd know her name and stuff, if you stood there and paid it for her. Is a hundred enough to pay the taxes on that car?"

"I don't know. I figured if she got $1200 and spent it on a car, it would be enough. Now if she spent $1400 on a car, it might not. But it would help. It's like people coming up to my store, saying they have their Covid money to spend. With the timing, I figured that's how she bought her car."

"Oh, well. That was a nice thing to do. As long as you weren't creepy about it."

We don't want Hick to do too much stimulating...