UPS Bob

It was March 2020. We were stuck in our homes. Some of us bored. Some of us working from home. Churches and business were closed. Everyone was learning to be homeschoolers. There was little contact with the outside world.

I won’t get political because it doesn’t really matter what “side” you’re on. But I think we can all agree on one point: Covid changed how we connected in community. Fear. Isolation. Sadness. Depression. Boredom. Anxiety. All of these things heightened. Senior citizens dying alone. Churches not knowing what to do with services, if or when they did have them. Health care workers over worked and under paid. Nothing felt normal. 

As humans we thrive on connection. Human interaction. Face to face contact. Even the most introverted person still needs some sort of companionship with other people to be healthy. 

2020 took all of this away from us. 

At least for a time, we were all quarantined and compartmentalized and corralled. And for those of us extroverts who weren’t considered “essential workers”, it seemed like an eternity of house arrest. 

If you don’t already know this about me, I’m extremely extroverted. I thrive on human interaction. I talk to everyone- even strangers. As funny as it may seem, it wasn’t always this way. I was painfully shy as a child. Literally so awkward and to myself. Not anymore! But that’s a story for another day. 

Thankfully I am from a big family and so there were eight people living under the same roof in March of 2020. To some that’s a crowd in itself! We cooked together, took walks together, we bake and ate lots of yummy carbs, had a “when you’re bored list” to give us ideas to keep busy, and did a lot of FaceTiming and phone calls. But even though we were used to being together as a family (my dad was self employed and we homeschooled already) it was still stifling! Being told you can’t do anything makes you feel even more straight-jacketed than if you chose to stay home. 

After a few weeks of being in the same four walls of our house, I was very ready to see me some people. Different people. My prison work had come to all but a complete halt and my boyfriend was 800 miles away. Everything felt strangely stalemated in an epidemic world. 

And this is when a small act of kindness by a UPS guy changed my viewpoint completely. 

It was March 26, 2020. I know this because I have a video in my phone to prove it. 

Our UPS guy at the time we called Bob. We couldn’t pronounce his real name so he told us to call him Bob. We had gotten to know him over the few years he drove our route and he always had a kind word. We knew a few fun things about UPS Bob. 

1.  Bob loved music. All kinds of it. Every time he pulled up he was blaring some new genre of musical talent. One day it was country. The next day it was Christian contemporary. Rock and roll. Hebrew healing tones. I’m not even kidding. This guy had expansive tastes. And he was also a musician. In a band. Sang. The works.
2. Bob loved Jesus. He was an ordained minister and loved to talk about Jesus, the Bible and people. 
3. Bob loved people and was great with names. And I don’t mean cheating because your name was on your package. He actually knew your name apart from your deliveries. When I ran into him in town, he would yell from across the street- “hey, Faith Walker!” And I wasn’t the only one. I regularly heard him address people out in about on a first name basis and with kindness and compassion. 
4. Bob had energy. He was the most upbeat, energy giving, cheerful UPS driver I have ever met. Always chipper. Always a funny quip or joke. Always a smile or laugh. Always time to chat for a second before rushing off to his next stop. 

So when I tell you during Covid we ordered stuff from Amazon just to see Bob, I’m not really exaggerating. Outside of our family, Bob was just about the only person we saw those first few weeks. So we spaced out our deliveries and ran to the door when we heard the friendly beep of the truck. I’m not joking. We really did love seeing him that much…and with such a life giving personality in a bummer time- do you blame us? 

Anyway, back to March 26th, 2020. 

We heard the familiar truck honk and several of us ran (or walked quickly…so as not to be less than adult about it) to the door. But this day, Bob was extra. He handed us a package but loudly said- “I know it kinda a bummer right now. So I brought somethin to cheer you up!” With this he whipped out his bluetooth speaker and set it on the sidewalk in front of our door. Then he pulled out his phone, clicked a song and let ‘er rip. Harmonica in hand, he took turns blowing out cheerful notes on it and belting out the words. It was first rate entertainment. He commenced to stomping and jigging and all the while the music blaring and him harmonica-playing and singing. 

By now we were all crowded at the door. Every. Single. One. Of. Us. 

It wasn’t that Bob was singing the most incredible song we’d ever heard (I can’t even remember what song he was playing) it was that he knew our cooped-up, stir-craziness and he wanted to cheer us up. Second song in and not a one of us wasn’t grinning ear to ear. 

Random acts of kindness are like that. They are contagiously joyful and make you heart feel fuzzy and warm inside. Bob didn’t do anything earth shattering. He did a small thing in his normal, every day life that left an impression on us. Why did it matter so much? Because he saw us. He saw our need for community and he stepped up to meet it in an ordinary way. It took him five minutes or extra time and not taking himself too seriously so he could dance at our front door and give a little joy. We rode that wave of happiness for days. 

I wonder how many times I’ve had the chance to do something similar? Oh- for sure not harmonica playing- but something in my skill set. Something small and ordinary that would make all the difference for someone in my sphere…hoping someone will see their ache for community and show up. Maybe it’s the tiny, ordinary things that feel the most extraordinary in the middle of chaos. 

The card you weren’t expecting but said all the things you needed to hear. The hand-picked flowers on a day that isn’t your birthday or a holiday. The phone call or text. The invite to dinner or to the park. The time you were an overwhelmed mama and someone at the grocery store told you “You’re doing a great job and your kids are precious.” Kind words from a stranger. 

You can do small things- Helping someone with a disability open a door. Asking a cashier how you can pray for her today. Look for the needs and then meet them. It takes courage to see people and reach out, but it’s worth the ten seconds of awkward.

These are not big things. But they might be a game changer for the person on the receiving end. In some cases, it could be the moment they see Jesus in the flesh. You- being His hands and feet to a hurting world. 

Bob did that for us in March of 2020. He shined the light of joy into the darkness of uncertainty. He said with his life: “it’s okay. We have each other.” This is the community and human connection we crave. The kind that says- “you are not alone.”

How can you be like UPS Bob today? Change the world with your kindness.