Karma kisses

Most people will say that what happened to me today was simply a coincidence.  To those people, all I have to say is, "Are you kidding me?  It's KARMA baby!"  

My son called me this afternoon, obviously very upset, because his dog was missing.   He asked me if I would be willing to go do a walk-through at the local shelter to see if she had been picked up.  I agreed to do it, though without much enthusiasm.  I know how much my son loves his dog.  I love animals myself.  Diesel is a great dog!  There were tons of really good reasons to do this.  There were also a few reasons not to do this.  Those would be three more assignments for school that I wanted to finish tonight. 

So, I stepped away from the school work and went up to get dressed to go on the doggy search.  There was no chance that my dog was going to let me leave without him.  So I took him out to the car with me.  When we stopped at a nearby store, I realized that I couldn't have him with me if I found my son's dog.  My dog is terrified of other dogs and acts like an insane fool when one is near him.  I was really ticked off at myself for not thinking it through before I brought him.  I realized this trip was going to take even longer since I had to take him home before I could go.

I walked into the store and picked up what I needed.  When I got to the counter, there was a long line and one cashier.  The guy that was just stepping up to the counter asked for a money order.  A money order, I tell you!  It takes forever to get them done!  I swore that forces were colluding to keep me from my scheduled work.  A minute later, one of the other women in the store came up and opened a cashier register.  She waived me over to the register.  The woman behind me in line walked right up to her and started ordering.  Initially, I was furious.  However, the cashier stopped the woman and said, "I have to wait on this lady first."  Just the acknowledgement that I had been in line first was enough to calm me.  I told the other woman to go ahead.  Then, finally, it was my turn.  I put my things on the counter and opened my bag to get my bank card.  I looked once, twice, and in absolute panic, a third time.  No bank card! Naturally, there was no cash either!  I apologized profusely and said that I would be right back. 

Walking back to the car to take my dog home and worrying about my bank card, I decided with absolute certainty that God looked down every once in a while, saw that I was doing ok and things were going smoothly, and decided that it was time to play one of his cosmic jokes.  I was NOT a happy camper.  I took the dog home and tore through the house looking for my card with no success.

After about five minutes, I felt so terribly guilty about my son's dog that I decided I would go do the walk through then come back to look for the card.  Of course, the entire time that I was driving, all I could do was think about where I might have lost the card and wonder how I was going to get by for the next week with no access to my money.

When I got to the local shelter, there was no one at the receptionist window.  Further into the office, there was a woman on the phone but no one else in sight.  The woman finished her call, started to wheel her chair over to me at the window, and the phone rang again.  She immediately reversed direction and headed for the phone again!  I wanted to scream!!!!!  She finished that call and finally got to the window.  While she was looking to see if anyone had made a report in the computer about my son's dog, guess what?!  The phone rang again!  Off she went in her chair like the office version of Mario Andretti.  Two more calls and she wheeled back to the window.  We finally finished all the paperwork.  I did the walk-through, which broke my heart because I wanted to take all the dogs home with me, only to find that my son's dog wasn't there!

I walked out the door and called him to break the bad news.  All I could think about was getting home to finish my assignments.  He was very upset but I assured him that I would do another walk through the following day.  Just as I pulled out to the street to head home, I heard him say, "Mom, would you please go check the SPCA?"  What was I supposed to say?!  I had so much to do!!  I was going to end up waiting for another receptionist to do the job of three people before I could even do the walk through.  I was going to have to look at all those dogs that I couldn't do anything for.  Oh, please, don't do this to me, God!  All I heard coming out of my mouth was, "Sure, kiddo, its nearby.  I'll go try."  I looked around wildly.  Who was speaking into my phone in my voice saying crazy things like that? 

So, I was on my way to the SPCA.  I reached across the seat into my pocketbook to put my phone back, as I got to a red light.  I decided to look through my cards for my bank card one more time.  I keep a copy of my registration in with my cards.  When I touched the folded registration, I realized that it felt too "substantial".  That would be because my bank card was inside the folded paper!

I walked into the SPCA feeling slightly less accursed.  There were multiple people at the counter and I was waited on immediately.  The paperwork was done two minutes later and I was on my way to another walk through.  I looked through the entire room of cages.  No Diesel.  I went back into the desk and the gentleman behind the desk asked if I had seen my dog.  I said, "Sadly, no."  He said,"Well, let me walk you through the back room real quick."  As we turned the corner into the room, there was Diesel!  She was jumping around and whining like a fool at the sight of my face.

Well, we got all the paperwork done. Unfortunately, that took about an hour.  However, I walked out the SPCA with my son's beloved Diesel dog in tow.

I don't know how I could have looked through my pocketbook half a dozen times without finding that card.  I don't know why Diesel would have been in a back room that isn't usually part of the walkthrough.  What I do know is that I did something that I really didn't want to do for someone else.  The other thing that I know, with absolute certainty, is that KARMA ROCKS!

Always do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do......even when it's not what you want to do!  Always try to love your family more than you love yourself!  At the very least, you will make the world a better place, if only for a moment.  At the best, KARMA will give you a kiss on the cheek and tell you that you rock!