A Good Deed

It was a simple outing that left me with a good feeling.

I needed to go downtown to the Missoula County courthouse during my lunch hour to get 2016 license plates for my son's car. Before I left, I realized I didn't have any change. A co-worker said I wouldn't need any since the old meters had been overhauled with new units that now took debit and credit cards.

After I parked I stood in front of the machine, followed the directions, entered my license plate number, pulled out my wallet and prepared to pay. Hitting the "quick pay" button would allow me to pay for the 30 minutes I needed. I put my credit card in the slot but nothing happened. I tried again with the same result.

At about that same time a bearded man in a Carhartt jacket said something like, "So that's the new set-up huh? How does it work?"

I told him he needed to know his license plate number but that the machine apparently didn't allow the payment of a small amount with a credit card even though there was a slot for it.

"Do you have any change?" he asked.

"Only a nickel," I said.

"Here you go," he said.

"Thank you," I replied.

He gave me 50 cents and returned to his vehicle to get his license number. I inserted the two quarters, received a receipt and entered the county courthouse. Moments later, he entered and took a number to do some title work which usually takes much longer than just updating tags. His number was called a good 15 minutes before mine and I smiled as he quickly exited with his approved paper work.

To me it was only fitting that someone who had just done a good deed could be in and out of the courthouse in a matter of mere minutes. I was grateful.