a mans appreciation

i missed a delivery the other day so i went down to the courier warehouse to retrieve the package.

a man came over to ask me if i needed help which was possibly very considerate of him or just part of the job discription and requirements that earned him his pay. either way, he wasn't very enthusiastic. i handed over the "we waited til the second you walked out the door and then tried to deliver something" docket which he looked at, sighed and wandered off. it could not have been outdone by marvin.

not sure whether to follow him or not. i stayed where i was and watched him disappear into an office where he did just that. disappear. i assumed that it wouldnt be that hard to find the package as theyd only tried to deliver it the day before. five minutes later, he emerged, glanced around the massive warehouse, and did his disappearing act again. several more minutes later (by now im thinking this guy is a magician on weekends but practices at work), he came out still empty handed and went off to rummage amongst a pile of packages and emerged almost triumphantly with the small yet urgent (for me - definitely not him) delivery. he read the label and suddenly it was more significant and far more exciting than your average package.

he practically bounded over to me apologising profusely for the wait and then announced to me he understands as he has his medical supplies delivered to him from sydney as well.

"oh?" i enquired. i felt like he had been busting to tell someone this story forever. as it turns out, he has antirejection drugs delivered to him. a few years ago he had a double lung transplant because of some rare yet obviously life taking lung disease and he was now several years past his "use by" date he beamed at me. god love him. my package seemed so insignificant by now. i felt like giving it back to him and saying "ever so sorry to trouble you" or something.

he then also chose that moment to tell me that he now has a womans lungs to which i replied "wow youre the only guy ive met who can look down at his chest and truly appreciate it".

thankfully, he also had a sense of humour....................