It was a perfect day to celebrate the almost-end of the pandemic. As we no longer hear of hospitals being overcrowded with people sick with Covid-19, I declared myself safe to go out.
A friend, who just arrived from her US vacation, and whom I have not seen for three years, called and declared, “Let’s have coffee and catch up!”
“Let’s!”
We met in a coffee shop and chatted till our voices turned hoarse. We each rode a tricycle (also my first in three years!) to go home.
“How much is the fare now?” I asked the driver.
“Fifty pesos,” he said quickly.
Euphoric over my rare day out, I gave him P100 and told him to keep the change. “From Leni,” I joked.
He froze for a few seconds then thawed. Behind his mask I could “see” a big smile. He exclaimed over a dozen “thank yous.” 'Twas a good deed to punctuate my rare day out.
Teresa met me by the door and said, “Isn't it shocking that the tricycle fare jumped from 25 pesos then to 39 now?"
“What?! But the driver charged me 50!”
“Haha,” she laughed, “you were duped!”
I suddenly remembered the sardonic phrase, “No good deed goes unpunished.” Acts of kindness backfire on those who offer them.
Are random acts of kindness a thing of the past? I thought, as the tricycle driver morphed into an enemy in my mind.
Feeling distraught, I recalled my go-to grace verse found in Luke 6:27 (ESV), “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great.”
Call me naive, but I can’t allow one bad tricycle driver to stop me from doing a kind deed.
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