The paper boy

Are there people in your life that have had a lasting impression?  People who have passed through your life and enhanced it in some way you'll never forget.
There are in mine. 

I met one of them here in PE.

When we came to South Africa it became readily apparent that the unemployment rates, that we had been told about, were not an exaggeration.  The entrepreneurial spirit of this country amazes me.  At virtually every robot (traffic light) someone is selling something.  From USB sticks and sunglasses, to garbage bags and hand made tin watering cans, people are out there trying to earn a living.  Some just ask for money, but many of them try to sell something to make a buck.

It gives new meaning to the phrase drive through when you see a table with carafes of coffee at the side of the road and someone weaving in an out of traffic selling coffee and biscuits.  It's ingenious.  Totally dangerous, but ingenious.

With all the warnings I had been given about crime in this country I was leery to open my window,  while sitting at a stop light, when we first got here. I couldn't sit an pretend these people aren't there or look through them, so I would look at them, shake my head and mouth "No, thank you."

Every morning on my commute to the school we would pass the paper boy.  He walked among the cars selling Die Burger, the Afrikaans newspaper and The Herald, the English paper. I never wanted a paper, I got most of my news from the MWeb news app on my phone. 

Every once and a while I would see someone roll down their window to buy a paper.  There was one man in a blue compact car who never bought a paper but he would have a chat through his open window. 

Over time the paper boy got to recognise our car.  He would smile and wave and I couldn't help but smile and wave back.  For a month or so it was our routine.  Every morning he would smile and wave and I would smile and wave back from behind my window.  It was a great way to start a day with his enormous smile.  Rain or shine he was out there smiling with his newspapers.

One day I decided to roll down my window, just 1/2 way.  "Good morning Ma'am" he said to me.  "Good morning." I said back.  A few days later I asked him how much The Herald cost.  He told me R5.  I said to him "Well then, every Friday morning I will buy a paper from you".  So, that Friday I rolled down the window, all the way, and bought my first paper from him.  I handed him a R10 note and as he reached for change I told him that the extra R5 was for his brilliant smile.  I didn't think his smile could get any bigger, but it did as he said "Thank you Ma'am".

It went on like this for weeks.  Mon - Thurs I would roll down my window to say good morning.  Some mornings he would say in a thick accent "Nice weather" or "Rainy day today Ma'am".  On Friday's I would give him R10 for a paper and a smile.  Some mornings (never a Friday) he would be restocking at the nearby Spar market and I would drive through without talking to him.  Without fail the next day he would say "I missed you yesterday Ma'am"

I once asked him what he did after he sold his papers, if he had another job.  He said, "No job Ma'am, I just go home and sit all day."

One week we were scheduled to go to Cape Town, so I told him on Monday that I would need my paper on Thursday that week.  He was ready with my paper Thursday when I stopped at the light and he wished me a good trip. 

When we returned from Cape Town he asked about our trip.  I told him Cape Town was a beautiful city and we enjoyed it very much.  Then, as the light changed to green and I started to move away he said he was going to Durban.

I was running late the next day and didn't have time to say hi or ask about Durban. The next day he wasn't there.

It's been 4 weeks now since I've seen him.  He must have moved on to Durban for good. Regardless of the morning I was having, whether I was tired or rushed,  grumpy or happy he was always there with a smile.  He never failed to lift my spirits and start my day off on a positive note.

I am glad I gave him the extra money for his smile.  It wasn't enough to keep him in PE, but I hope it was enough to let him know how much I appreciated it.  His smile encouraged me to open my window and talk to him.  It motivated me to buy a paper from him and gave me something to look forward to on my morning commute. 

He was a complete stranger to me. I never got around to asking his name.  Still, I will never forget him and I will never underestimate the power of a simple smile.