Encounter at Starbucks
Starbucks. Think of all of the meetings, conversations, and stories created in 20,000+ Starbucks locations around the world. Now think about all the encounters, conversations and stories that almost happened, or that went by unnoticed. We might not always notice stories that are being written, but in the storybook of our lives, wherever we go, we are constantly writing another chapter, whether we are cognizant of it or not.
I believe that nothing is random, and that every interaction we encounter with another person leaves a soul-print of sorts on our lives. Sometimes it is just more obvious than others.
Last Thursday, I came out of my meeting at Starbucks in Beachwood and got into my car. As I have a bad habit of rarely locking my door, I absentmindedly climbed into the the driver's seat and sat down. "That's strange," I wondered, "who moved my seat all the way up?" Chalking it up to one of life's mysteries, I shrugged my shoulders and drove away. The next day my daughter Hindy was in the passenger seat and noticed a purse on the floor.
"Hey, whose purse is that?" she asked.
"I don't know, I assumed it's Mommy's."
"No, it's actually not."
"Well then let's see whose it is and how it got here."
She opened it up and found a wallet full of cash, credit cards, personal items and a driver's license identifying the owner of this purse as a woman from San Francisco by the name of Susan. Digging deeper, we discovered a business card with her cell phone number. I tracked her down and this is what we were able to piece together:
Susan came to Cleveland to visit her daughter and grandchildren, who live in Shaker Heights. She took her daughter's black Toyota Sienna minivan to Starbucks. The one with the new-fangled keyless remote. Susan "accidentally" climbed into my black Toyota Sienna minivan, put her purse down on the floor of the passenger seat, and tried to figure out why this new-fangled remote wasn't working. She got out of my van, forgetting her purse behind, flagged down a random gentleman and asked for assistance in starting up her daughter's van. Except that this time she went back into the right minivan, her daughter's, and therefore the gentleman was able to successfully help her start her car. He and she both drove off (separately) into the sunset.
She got to her daughter's house and couldn't find her purse. Convinced that the random gentleman stole it, she freaked out, called the police, and then freaked out some more when she realized that without her driver's license as her photo ID, she can't get back home to San Francisco.
Just then, this knight in shining armor (that's me, in case I lost you by now) saved the day by calling to tell her that he has her missing purse!
What is the message behind this wild tale? Why was I meant to meet and assist Susan in this way? I have no idea, and I don't even remember her last name anymore. But I believe that there was a soul-print created. From a divine perspective, there was some cosmic reason that we were meant to meet, and that I was given the privilege to do this Mitzvah, in this manner. Perhaps one day I'll find out. For now, Susan sent me a nice note and a beautiful purple orchid plant. Next time you're here at our JFX center on Chagrin, you can enjoy the aroma!
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Koval
