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PARKING LOT CHRISTMAS
First time in my adult life, I had all my Christmas shopping done three weeks before Christmas Eve.
I was so happy that I avoided that last minute shopping. To top it all off, my boss gave a fifty dollar Christmas bonus! Which I had every intentions of spending on myself.
I drove to the department store. The lot was jammed full of cars. I drove around a couple of times and found a parking space way at the other end. The parking lot was hideous to walk on. It was that wet slushy snow, that is so slippery.
I walked slowly, I noticed a man getting out of his car with crutches in hand. He was parked in a handicap space.
I also noticed a police officer pulling up along side the man's car. When I was close enough, I could hear what was being said.
The police officer was telling the man he couldn't park there, because he had no handicap tag on his car. The man told him he never parks in the handicap spaces, but his crutches were so slippery on the wet snow, he was just trying to avoid further injury.
The police officer became irritated, and told the man, "All right then, you can pay a fine." He began making out the ticket.
The man frantically said to the officer. "No, no, please I'll move the car."
"Nope, it's too late now, you had your chance."
The man pleaded with the officer. He told him he really couldn't afford a fine. He had saved all the money he could to buy his boy Christmas presents, which the man said, amounted to fifty dollars.
The policeman said, "Well, find twenty five dollars more and you'll have enough for the fine."
He tore the ticket from the pad, handed it to the man, and said, "Merry Christmas."
The officer drove away, leaving the man standing there holding a seventy five dollar fine in his hand. The man sat in his car with the door open.
I looked down at my fifty dollar bonus. I knew in my heart what the right thing to do was. I walked over to the man's car. His head was down, and I think he was crying.
I said, "Sir, I couldn't help but overhear and notice what just happened. That police officer was wrong." I handed him my endorsed bonus check.
He said, "No, I couldn't accept this. It wouldn't be right."
"Please take it. I once parked in a handicap spot, just to quickly run into a store. I got away with it. No one gave me a ticket. Take the money and buy your boy presents," I said.
A moment of silence, he looked at the check, and then he looked up at me. The tears were in his eyes, with so much feeling, and in a thankful voice, he wished me a Merry Christmas.
You never know what events might come along to remind you of the true meaning of Christmas. Maybe it should be that way all year long. What a better world it just might be.
-- Melissa Knapp
He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.
--Sunshine Magazine
A wreath with holly, red berries and other decorations began from at least the 17th century. Holly, with its sharply pointed leaves, symbolised the thorns in Christ's crown-of-thorns. Red berries symbolised the drops of Christ's blood. A wreath at Christmas signified a home that celebrated to birth of Christ.
