2 Loaves of Bread Blogapy
In Middletown, Connecticut, there is an old, small, family owned gas station called Frank and Gloria’s Service. Not fancy… no neon… no swipe at the pump… just an old fashioned full serve gas station.
And we haven’t gone to a full serve gas station in… well… forever. With gas prices being as high as they are… we always pump our own gas… and it’s always regular grade…or the lowest cheapest stuff they have.
We will actually look at gas prices… after we’ve filled up… for miles… to see if we missed a cheaper price! It’s kinda a pathetic pricing game… see how cheap we can get our gas for!
But when we pulled up to Frank and Gloria’s… out came Frank. Greg started to open his door… and I told him to let the man pump the gas. He was one of those old guys who looked like he still loved his job. He loved his gas station!
But when we rolled down the window he handed us 2 loaves of freshly baked bread.
Now… I don’t know what it’s like in other parts of the country… but someone handing you 2 loaves of bread is not a typical CT thing.
First we offered to buy them. And he said no. He just gave them to me and started pumping the gas.
Were they poisoned? Who does that? Is there a hidden camera? Are the Directors in the back asking the at-home audience…What will the people in the Blue Car do???
So, I got out and asked him… “Do you give everyone bread? Or Just us?”
He smiled and went on to explain that there used to be a food pantry next door years ago.
I noticed that the area looked a little run down… and a lot of the older stores were closed up or out of business.
The old food pantry had closed down too… but families would still show up looking for food. Sometimes with their kids.
So, Panera Bakery would send over vans of bread to hand out to whomever would show up. And anything that was leftover… they would give to Frank at the gas station.
Frank explained that he and his wife would drive the extra loaves of bread down their own church’s food pantry.
But occasionally, two loads of bread got dropped off…and it would go bad if it wasn’t eaten in a day or two. So he hands them out to his customers.
I was reminded of Frank and Gloria last night when I went to my daughter’s elementary school ice cream fundraiser.
I love going to those kinds of things. I get to see all my friends… and just hang out…eat ice cream…and catch up!
I ran into Kurt and Chris… dear friends that have been there through the thick and the thin of things. They got to see all the good stuff and the bad. And they knew me when I started the CTBTA with my friends. They happen to own a pizza place, called Naples Pizza in Farmington…BIG PLUG!!!!! Awesome people and awesome pizza!
But the reason I mention it… is because I have been to so many fundraisers… whether it be for my charity, the school, the local sports teams… just name it and there’s Kurt with his Pizza. He must donate more pizza than he actually sells.
I love knowing people like that. Those are the folks you want to see succeed. The folks who give so much… and not because it’s good business… just because it’s good!
Every morning and night I watch the news… and hear about school shootings, shady politicians, bills that don’t get passed, soldiers committing suicide, French fries and Ketchup being classified as vegetables on our kid’s lunch trays! Just BS Common sense things that make me sick to my stomach and want to change the channel to The Big Bang Theory.
So, think about what you can do for someone else today. Something that earns you nothing… just knowing you did something… Anything. Even the smallest thing…It can be a hand written card, an encouraging email, a small donation…or a big one. Collect food, visit someone who’s sick, show up at your daughter’s lacrosse game… and offer to buy the whole team cold Italian ices during the intermission. It’s amazing… but people never forget that kind of stuff.
They even blog about it sometimes!
Love,
Tra