Crappy Weekend

I was pretty down on my luck this weekend. I went out late on Thursday night with a bunch of my friends and some low class fucker stole my blackberry and my money out of my purse. To say I was enraged is an understatement. On top of that, the following morning was my mom's birthday and I couldn't even call her to wish her a Happy Birthday because I didn't have a phone or her number. I got home a little after 5am and had to wake up by 10am the next morning for work. I reeked of vodka and was still legally drunk.

I was reading this book by Beth Lisick today called Helping Me Help Myself. The author is a skeptic who spends a year helping herself by reading self-help books. She was talking about the Seven Habits, part of the better yourself plan by Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Life Change, which is described as the following:

Part of the Seven Habits master plan is to simply start acting like you are the kind of person who has your shit together, remembering not to put personality before character. Pg 28

She goes on the describe, in her own words, the first habit:

Habit 1: Be Proactive
The basic idea here is that you are responsible for your own life. Don't be the kind of person who is in a crappy mood because it's too windy outside (guilty!) or your coworker prattles on about her baby shower and it's enraging (gahhh!!!). Bring your own weather with you. You can't control how other people treat you, but you do have the power to control your response to them. Always remember: in this life, you get to be you. I don't know if Covey would endorse this part, but whenever somebody is a jerk to me, I always think, At least I am me while that asshole has to spend his whole life being him.

Tomorrow, after a weekend of wallowing in self-pity and being so mad at people for being such low-lifes, I will start to be proactive.

So back to Friday. I was working at the bar, still drunk, still completely pissed off, when a gentleman sitting at the bar starting making small talk with me. We didn't talk about anything particularly important, just the general Where are you from, What do you do, and so on and of course I mentioned getting robbed the night before. I realized while talking to him that I must have sounded like the biggest mess, someone with really shitty luck who was always feeling sorry for herself. That's not completely far from the truth I suppose. Anyway, was completely engaged in the conversation (you ever just have really great conversations anymore?), and thought perhaps there are still a few decent people in the world. Later on in the day he returned with a promo pack from his work (he mentioned it in conversation) and a lottery ticket for me, to try to help turn my luck around. How genuinely nice is that??? And while he was there he got in a conversation about cupcakes with my coworker, said he was on his way to pick up some for his kids, and he returned with some red velvet cupcakes for the staff! See, lesson learned, people buy you things when you complain a lot.

No, just kidding! I really was touched by a stranger's kindness. Perhaps there are a few good people left in this world.