Giving Tree
A neighbor stopped by the house and gave me a large sack of tangerines. I love tangerines, but there is no way that I could have eaten all the tangerines that she had given me.
I decided to share the fruit with some of the other neighbors, but apparently they too received their own sack of tangerines. The neighbor with the tangerine tree must have hit the mother lode.
I decided to walk over to the nearby Chinese restaurant that I sometimes visit, to share the tangerines with the owner there. They are always very kind to me whenever I stop by, and I thought they might enjoy the fruit. When I gave Mamasan the sack of tangerines, she looked inside and smiled. She told me to wait a moment and then she went back into the kitchen. When she returned, she gave me a large bag of crispy gau gee. We thanked each other several times before I left the restaurant. I love gau gee, but there was no way that I could eat all that she had given me. Okay, maybe I could eat it all, but I knew that I shouldn’t.
I was about to head on home when I saw that the Japanese bakery that I sometimes shop at had a going out of business sign in the window. I stopped by to say hello one last time. Apparently the rent is too costly for the young couple to stay at this location. It’s unfortunate that they couldn’t make it in the area. Not only were they the only bakery in town, but their baked-goods were fantastic and the owners were always friendly. I gave the woman the bag of gau gee, telling her that it was for good luck at their new location. She briefly looked inside, then raised the bag to show her husband as they spoke to each other in Japanese. In a moments time, they filled a large pink box with pastries for me, saying that this was good luck for me also. They and their bakery will be missed.
I’m standing at the intersection with the pink box in hand, waiting for the light to turn green. While I am waiting, I see the Internet Cafe across the street. There was a time when I used to go there just about everyday to use the computer and to have a cup of coffee, but I seldom stop by there anymore. Feeling the giving mood in full force, I decided to pay them a visit and to share the pastries with the crew. The employees were grateful for the offer and were happy to share in the pastries. A few of the customers also took. Before leaving, the girls gave me a package with three individual slices of carrot cake.
When I arrived home, I began to take the carrot cake out of the package to put into the refrigerator. I thought about this wonderful infectious giving that had taken place and how it all got started. I put one of the slices of cake into my refrigerator and took the other two slices over to the neighbor that started this giving cycle by sharing the tangerines. She was so happy when I told her what was inside the package. She told me that she had been having one of her cravings for carrot cake.