The Pork Tenderloin Shoelace Mission (and the Beer Raffle)!

On Sunday morning, Tina asked me to do her a big favor: go to our small local grocery store to get some cooking string. She was trying a cool new recipe for pork tenderloin stuffed with prosciutto and herbs and needed to keep it all together.

When I suggested we use a shoelace from my gym sneakers, I swear she rolled her eyes so far she could see her own brain.

So, off to the store I went.

Being a chilly New England November day, I made my way quickly to the store entrance. As I approached, I saw a small folding table bearing a large gift basket, a case of beer and a roll of raffle tickets.

Seeing a father with his two daughters, I had to ask: “Raffling off beer for Christmas?  I’m in!”

I am not a beer drinker, but I figured it would be the world’s greatest Yankee Swap gift.

As I forked over my $5.00 for 6 tickets, I watched the beer leave with the person with the person who’d just bought tickets. Apparently that person already owned it.

Big laughs again, as the Dad said that case of beer was the perfect bait for donors like me!

According to his daughters, they were raising money so their dance troupe could compete at a national competition. Their thank-yous were still ringing in my ears as I entered the store, happy that I’d been able to help.

After several trips through the aisles, I could not locate cooking string.

I did spy some nice, clean, new shoelaces, though!

Against my genetic coding as a male, I stopped to ask directions from the person at the meat counter.

“Cooking string? Nope, we don’t carry that…sorry.”

“Okay, no problem. Thanks anyway.”

“Wait, how much do you need?” he countered.

“A couple feet, I suppose. We’re lacing up a pork tenderloin.”

“Hold on a second.”

Barely 30 seconds later, he emerged from the back room with a small roll of string.

Seriously?

With a hearty handshake, I let him know how much he’d just saved my life, as I was about to either unlace a gym sneaker or reel off some line from my fishing pole.

“No sense in dinner smelling like the river” he replied with a smile as he got back to work.

What an act of kindness, truly!

To some people, it is a stroke of luck when someone does something like that for you.

But we know better than that, right?

I honestly believe that when we make a conscious effort to be living, breathing examples of a life spent intentionally creating good energy, we increase the odds of that good energy landing on us.

Is it a guarantee?

Not at all, otherwise I’d be helping old people across the street all day long in the hopes of a winning lottery ticket.

But on this day, I walked away smiling, confident that my investment in a trip to a dance competition attracted the kind gesture inside the store which, less than 2 hours later, assisted in creating a delicious pork tenderloin dinner.

Just imagine if we all walked through life being aware and willing to share good energy.

Besides, I’d have looked funny at the gym this morning with one shoelace-deprived sneaker flopping off the treadmill!

Please go out there and create some great energy this week, my friends!

-Steve Gamlin