It Will All Come Out in the Wash

Gary pulled up to the carwash. Of course, there was a queue, it was a fine day, after all. He turned to the child seat in the back. "Daddy needs to get a ticket before we can visit the foaming beast.” His words were greeted with a nervous giggle. “Would you like an ice cream, Alice?"

"Yes please, da-da," the reply was so polite for one so young.

"I won't be long," and with that, he hurried to the shop knowing the queue could move at any moment.

Why had it been so difficult to choose the appropriate ice cream for Alice? And why had he stopped for a packet of crisps he didn't really need? He was asking himself these things because he realised the woman who had left the shop before him was now headed to the car behind his, and the queue, as he had feared, had moved. However, he was still astonished as the car behind him pulled out and round to fill the gap that was by rights his.

"I have a ticket," Gary called plaintively, trying not to sound too desperate. The driver's window was down, being such a warm day, so there was no mistaking the crowing reply,

"But I had my ticket first!"

Gary seethed. All manner of unpleasant words and names filled his brain as he felt his neck burn with anger. His eyes tingled as he understood for the first time the meaning of the ‘red mist’. But his windows were also down, and Alice was beaming at him, or rather the sight of ice cream. No matter. That face, the innocence and sweetness, all called to the father in him which overpowered his basest instincts.

Now in his seat, Gary stared viciously at the back of the woman's head as he imagined every possible revenge for such rudeness but his words belied his feelings, "that woman pushed in ahead of us Alice, I am so sorry. We will have to wait a little longer."

"It's not fair," came the mature response from the back, "she not nice lady."

And so, Gary found himself trying to explain Karma to a three-year-old, all the while secretly hoping he was right and the woman in front would soon be ruing her impetuous impatience as she stood at the roadside wondering what to do with her flat tyre. Or perhaps the comeuppance would take a few days to reveal itself as her favourite cat was discovered by a neighbour, lifeless on the road. Some heartless driver having refused to muster the courage to check the collar and ring the number provided. Well, it would serve her right!

As much as Gary imagined steadily worsening scenarios, nothing could assuage the feeling of anger that he had so expertly quelled, but so far failed to silence.

Having finished his crisps, Gary left the car to dispose of the packet in a nearby bin, knowing the journey would take him past the open window of the offender. Try as he might, the stares that had been so sharply aimed at the back of her head were now simply deflected by one that was bowed in some sense of shame or embarrassment. Maybe, Gary hoped, the head was bowed in silent prayer that 'he would not prove to be a mad-axe murderer' or was 'so socially deranged' that he had got out of the car with a tyre-lever, to set about her bonnet and doors.

Instead, he walked to the bin unnoticed, throwing the packet with as much disgust as he could muster. This was hardly a thriller he thought, angry crisp-packet man, and still, he seethed quietly.

Until that is, a voice from heaven called to him from the pumps.

"Hey Gary, you ok?"

"Oh, hi Richard! I'm alright...that is I was until someone jumped ahead of me in the queue, here!" he pointed at the car beside him.

"Oh, don't you just hate that?" Richard was playing his role like it was rehearsed, "It is so rude!"

"I know, and you think they would have considered the fact that I have a young one in the car."

Together they were magnificently loud and critical, enough so Gary was finally able to quash that feeling of injustice. He had been able to say his piece after all.

By the time the car, windows now up, emerged from the frothing, beating and blowing beast, the recent past had all but been forgotten. The fun of the foam-breathing dragon had purged the car not only of all the accumulated filth on the outside but also the last vestige of ill-will on the inside and Karma, whether witnessed or not, no longer mattered.

As Gary awaited the mechanical retraction and green light, his focus had turned to a young man parked beside the exit of the carwash. His bonnet was up but his face was down. Gary, who knew nothing about engines, had time to decide he would offer his assistance, thinking he might be able to place a call on the young man’s behalf. He had been staring rather forlornly at his phone for some time, perhaps his battery was flat.

Gary pulled alongside and lowered his window, “Can I help?” he offered more in hope than expectation. The young man’s face lit up as if Gary had just offered him a fortune. His battery was indeed flat, but not the one in his phone.

“Would you be able to give me a jumpstart?” the young man pleaded, “my dad got me going this morning and he told me not to turn the engine off. I thought I had driven far enough. If I call him now, he is going to kill me!”

“Do you have any leads?” Gary asked, knowing this is the one thing he could help with, provided they had the right equipment.

“With a car like this, I never leave without them.”

Just a few short minutes of his precious time is all it took for Gary to give joy to a complete stranger and how healing it was for him. This was the final polish his private wash programme had needed.

He turned to the child seat before pulling away.

“Now that is Karma Alice,” he said, “I am so pleased that woman jumped in ahead of us now. You realise had we been through before her we would not have been there for that young man, and I doubt she would have stopped for him.”

“No da-da, she won’t.”

Alice will live up to her name.*

*Footnote. Alice in German means noble (having or showing fine personal qualities).