Goes UnpunishedThat's our saying for those times when you think you are doing a good turn to your fellow man, but instead the tables turn and you find yourself being punished for your virtue. For whatever reason, I seem to be on a roll lately. Today's lunch episode was the perfect example.
I haplessly walked toward the drink counter and discovered a young family who had turned on the peach tea urn only to find themselves unable to turn it off. After filling all their cups with the sweet amber concoction, it quickly overflowed the black mat meant to catch stray drips, started running all over the stainless steel counter and would soon be flowing off the front of the counter onto the floor. While they fiddled with the nozzle I instinctively shoved my water cup under the flow to stem the tide of tea which was pretty much covering a good portion of the counter. My quick thinking husband managed to adjust the spigot but not until my cup had overflowed. As I pondered how to move my cup that was filled to the tip-top with a drink I don't even like, a Shane's employees finally showed up, and the family explained what had happened. I was thinking I needed a tray or something to catch the inevitable spills that would occur when I tried to carry the cup to the trash can to dispose of the tea, so I say "Uh, I don't want this drink, so...." Without even letting me finish my sentence, she retorts,
"You know that's a water cup and you're not supposed to have tea in it."
What can I say, guilty as charged. Honest to goodness, what happened next was a complete accident. As I reached toward the cup thinking I didn't care if it spilled all over the place I said, "Well, I was just trying to be helpful..." and somehow I bumped the cup and spilled the contents all over the counter. No, I didn't even apologize since that's where the tea rightfully belonged. Certainly it should NEVER have been in my water cup.
So does this happen to anyone else, or am I the only one who finds myself punished for my attempts to do a good deed?
