A Friendly Encounter

"I didn't do it."

The voice, which came out of seemingly nowhere, was loud enough to break the spinning of thoughts that were rattling through my brain.

I had made a quick stop at the gas station after a three-hour meeting.  According to my car, I could drive another 22 miles before I ran out of gas but I decided not to recreate a famous scene out of Seinfeld and pull in before meeting my colleagues for lunch.

As I watched the numbers on the pump continue to climb I took a mental inventory of what the rest of my day had in store for me.  I was just about ready to create my virtual grocery list when I heard the voice.

Looking up, I saw a gray-haired older man at the pump across from me.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Whatever you think I did, I didn't do it," he replied.

Obviously, I had a bit of a jokester on my hand.

I smiled, "I'm sure whatever it was, I did it."

"Are you Catholic?" he asked.

I laughed, "You got it! There's a lot of guilt to go around thanks to all that Catholic schooling."

He smiled as I turned to climb back in my car.

"Have a great day!" he called.

"And to you as well," I responded.

I smiled and kept that smile on my face for the rest of the day.