A few days ago I went to pick up a free OSB (A panel of compressed layers of wood strands) board. It was already dark and a bit late into the night and so I was a bit flustered knowing I’d probably have to cut the board down a bit while at the person’s place, especially given how loud power tools can be and doing it at a stranger’s house and disturbing the neighbours might have felt a bit rude.
Once I arrived John (not his real name), was nothing but helpful and kind. I know, this sounds a bit weird given how it feels I’m making a big deal out of picking up a piece of wood, but I think these acts of kindness are what makes life feel alive.
Prior to arriving I had already told John I needed the wood at 1.8m in length, but after putting the wood into the car it was clear it was going to be difficult. Nonetheless John was adamant he could make it work, he made swift measurements and proceeded to quickly cut the board to length with the saw. He was most definitely, man of action. I had told him I would be okay with a bit shorter but if 1.8m was what I wanted, he was adamant he’d make it work.
The funniest thing to me was what he said when he was cutting the board “I’m going to mark this by using this baseboard as a ruler, but it’s fine if it gets marker on it as it’s just a cheap baseboard”. He was also a teacher, showed me that he had cut on the line so the cut is exact. Not only that, when we carried the board over to the car he also told me I should hold it without twisting my wrist for maximum strength. Thanks for the tips John!
Since the boot was not completely flat the board could not be put in horizontally, instead we had to put it in diagonally, but this still left quite a bit of the board hanging out the back which meant the board had to go even further forward. But John was quick to suggest we put the seats as far forward as possible, and then this way we could prop the board up over the chairs, turn them horizontal, and pull them back which would allow them to fit horizontally into the car and go all the way to the back of the boot. After doing so, would still allow the chairs in the front to slide back since now the board would be just above the headrests.
All in all I have to say I didn’t expect to learn quite this much from just picking up a piece of wood. In this digital age we live in I feel this type of interaction is few and far between. Maybe this is just another interaction, but to me it’s these little things in life that always seem to have the biggest impact on me.
Showing kindness and sharing knowledge to a stranger may be one of the best things one can do.
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