Saturday Inspiration - Civility In an Uncivil Time

My dining room patiently awaiting the new addition

Lots of you read my post "I Love You HomeGoods" on Thursday about how I found my dream Chinoiserie chandelier for my dining room at HomeGoods, but that it was missing its ceiling canopy. My electrician is coming on Tuesday to hang it, so this weekend I needed to deal with that issue.

Yesterday morning, I received an email from a follower of Chinoiserie Chic. She had seen what she assumed was the chandelier in question at her HomeGoods, even though I didn't identify the store location or show the chandelier. She had considered it for her home, but it didn't work. She knew it had a bag with the gold leaf canopy, hardware, crystals, and instructions.

She drove to the store in the pouring rain, hunted down the missing bag and pieces, and emailed me that she was waiting there for me if I was available. I threw on a raincoat, raced up in the still pouring rain, and found her waiting patiently at the door. I alerted the manager as to what was going on, so as to not just walk out of the store with it. The manager loved the story so much about my blog and HomeGoods and human kindness, that she asked for my info and link to Chinoiserie Chic to forward the story to corporate headquarters. She hugged me and was in tears over the whole thing.

I have lived in Washington, DC the majority of my life and cannot imagine ever leaving. I think it's the greatest city in the world. But the past month, between the Navy Yard shooting, an incident at the Capitol last week that ended in violence, the government shutdown, and the pending debt ceiling crisis, these are trying and increasingly stressful and uncivil times in DC. That lovely act of kindness by Jane yesterday restored more than my chandelier, it helped restore my faith in people and my city. Much needed right now in our nation's Capital. Thank you so much Jane.