Mercy

When I have heavy things on my plate, the one thing that usually falls by the wayside is my sense of time. Days meld into each other; I am rarely correct when guessing which day it is. The only days I do get straight are important ones -- in this case, most recently, doctor appointments. Other than that, forget it. Monday, Tuesday, Friday ... one in the same.

This morning, at a very early hour, my doorbell rang. My doorbell never rings unexpectedly. Jack went crazy, howling his houndish howl, my kids jumped up from their toys (well, Aidan jumped while Grace clamored) wondering who was paying us a visit. I opened the front door and was greeted by the most unexpected site.

A policeman!

"Good morning, Ma'am," he said. "Is that your car parked out front?"

I knew it as soon as he said it. My eyes bugged out. "It's Tuesday, isn't it?!" I exclaimed.

He smiled. "Yes," he said. "Would you mind parking on the other side of the street?"

You see, Tuesdays are important days around here, for between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. we are not allowed to park on our side of the street. It's supposedly "street cleaning day" but I can't remember the last time I saw a street cleaner. Every Monday afternoon I remember to move the car to the other side of the street. But you see, I've been in "heavy things on the plate" mode lately, which means I lost all track of time ... and which meant that I completely and utterly forgot it was Tuesday.

I thanked the man profusely. He didn't have to do that, come to my door and remind me of the day. In fact, I didn't even know they did things like that, judging from the tickets I usually see on a weekly basis plastered on various windshields up and down the street. The police around here do seem to be rather ticket-happy, so this kind gesture was completely unexpected.

I quickly put on my flip-flops and ran outside to the car. I saw the same policeman in his patrol car, a few doors up on the other end of the block. There was a white van parked there, and the cop pulled up to the van. I did my thing, finding a spot across the street, and as I walked back to my house the cop drove away ... leaving behind a big pink-ish ticket on the van's windshield.

Why this guy decided to show some mercy to me this morning and not that van ... well, I have no idea. But I sure am grateful.