The well-dressed businessman slammed the door to his Mercedes minivan as he sprinted out of the driver’s seat.
Armed with camera, notebook and angry audible sighs, he stomped toward the empty truck in the parking lot.
Within seconds he had captured the images he needed and the tag number. Next on the list, open the truck door and lay down on the horn.
The scene was confusing to those who witnessed it. The truck was parked in a business parking lot during working hours. Why not go to the front door of the business and ask for the owner of the truck? Why summon him in this manner?
Reportedly, the gentleman discovered some damage to his front lawn, which bumped up against the service road beside the parking lot where the truck was parked. He determined the truck had done the damage.
Was that the case? We aren’t sure because we never heard the end of the story, but it is a real scenario that happened in March.
While we don’t know the end of the story, we do know that rather than maintaining a level head, determining facts versus assumptions and having a reasonable conversation with the owner of the truck, the nicely dressed man had a come apart in front of several strangers.
It was not his most flattering moment.
The owner of the truck, however, managed to calmly listen to the gentleman’s heated accusations and refrained from defending himself or launching into his own argument.
He calmly said that if he indeed was at fault, then he would make it right. He didn’t argue, deny or lash out at the businessman.
The man with the truck grabbed a pen and jotted down his name and contact information. The exchange squelched the tirade from moments earlier.
Bystanders were intrigued by the steadiness of the man with the truck who turned to go back to the job he was there to do.
No venting, no debriefing, no outward frustration — I’m guessing there was internal frustration but he didn’t let it show, especially not like the other man.
He stood steady with an incredibly calming peace.
Even if he had damaged the other man’s lawn, why not argue back about the way he was being treated?
“I felt like he needed to experience a little bit of Jesus today,” the man with the truck said.
And with that he was back to work — steady, calm and with a smile on his face.
Of course, those of us who witnessed this exchange are still talking about it, just like I’m sharing it with you here.
And the life lesson is obvious: A heart, mind and soul filled daily with God’s word and time in prayer produces what we saw with the peaceful man.
A life stretched too far without proper care and consistent recentering with the Lord leaves us vulnerable to that moment that breaks us.
None of us are immune; any of us could become the man stomping around a random business parking lot in a huff, losing all sense of proper perspective.
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