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Why Was the Chicken on the Lawn?

So I could do a good deed

By Tricia HPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
2
Walking the dog is for sniffing, not doing good deeds.

Little did I know that rushing out one day between raindrops with my dog would provide the opportunity to do a good deed.

Several days ago, in between rain storms, I took my dog out for a walk in our neighborhood. We hadn’t been out in quite a while because it had been raining for days, and it really looked like it would be starting up again any minute. Both of us really needed some fresh air and exercise, despite the fact that it was cold and damp.

As we headed down the sidewalk, weaving our way in and out of puddles on the sidewalk, I saw a couple plastic bags on the lawn of a house. Because those plastic bags are so common everywhere, I didn’t think much of it as we kept walking.

But by the time I was a couple houses past the bags, something just wasn’t sitting right with me about those bags, so I turned and headed back to check it out.

It was a very good thing I did.

Turns out the plastic bags weren’t empty bags that had been blown about by the storms, but rather had apparently been dropped by someone unloading their car after a trip to the grocery store. Each bag contained a rather large package of chicken.

After getting over my surprise, I attempted to pick them up, which was difficult because in one hand I held the leash of a rambunctious dog who was more interested in taking a walk than doing a good deed.

The bags were heavy, and double bagged, so I had to grab all four handles of the first, then transfer that bag to the hand that was holding the leash, and then pick up the next bag by all four handles, all the while being pulled by a dog who still wanted to go for his walk. I was trying to be quick, because at the same time, I was afraid the residents might come out and accuse me of stealing their food.

After I had the bags in hand, I walked up to the door of the house and knocked. Dogs barked inside (which greatly interested my dog), but for the longest time, that’s all that happened.

As I stood there holding the bags of chicken, I wondered if, as weird as it might seem, the chicken didn’t belong to the people who lived in this house.

Finally though, I sensed motion in the window next to the door, and saw a man peering out at me. I held up one of the bags of chicken and said, “I found these on your lawn,” but by the time I finished talking, he had disappeared.

A few seconds later he cautiously opened the door, and I explained again that I had found the two bags of chicken on his front lawn, gesturing to the place where I had picked them up. I felt kind of stupid saying “I guess they’re yours?”

“Yes, yes,” he said, nodding his head rapidly, and reaching out to take them from me. He then told me his wife had just gone shopping, and had apparently not noticed that she had dropped the bags.

“Thank you, thank you,” he said with a big smile. Then he put out his hand as if to shake hands with me.

I wasn’t expecting that, so I didn’t quickly put out mine in return, and by the time I did, he had already pulled his hand back. But eventually we got both hands out at the same time, and managed the handshake.

He went back into his house, and the dog and I turned around and resumed our walk.

It wasn’t until we were a couple of houses away that I realized how good it felt to be able to do a good deed for someone—a neighbor I’d never met before. I’m sure I had a smile on my face as big as the smile he had on his.

humanity
2

About the Creator

Tricia H

Dog mom, Texan, amateur photographer,crafter, reader, writer.

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