The Lady Locksmith.

Today’s Marketing Cookie is a reminder of how small actions can lead to significant outcomes.

We were living on North Broadway in Nyack, NY, a charming village known for its quaint shops, scenic views of the Hudson River, and tight-knit community. I was on my way to meet with a movie producer at a little coffee and bagel shop in town called the Runcible Spoon. As I passed 3rd Avenue, I heard the dull scraping sound of something heavy being dragged on the pavement, accompanied by the grunting one makes when trying to summon that extra, superhuman strength.

Looking up the long, narrow, shrub-lined driveway, I saw a woman leaning as far backward as she could, using all her weight to lug a big section of the wooden fence toward the street. I called out to her as I quickly set my notebook down on a stripe of grass near the sidewalk and started jogging toward her, “Need a hand?” She turned toward me, wiping the stress from her brow, and said, “Oh! Thank you.”

We each grabbed a corner of the dank, moss-covered fence and walked it backward toward the street as she explained between patches of strained breathing, “The guys... they were supposed to move these... fence pieces... out to the street for me.” I nodded. When we had dragged the fence all the way out, she pointed to the side of the driveway with her chin, saying, “Let’s put it there.” We set it down, and she said, “This should be fine. Thank you so much!” I shrugged to signal it wasn’t a big deal as she continued, “The city is coming to pick these up today, but they said it has to be down by the street. They won’t come onto the property for some reason.” I nodded again as she asked, “Could I trouble you to help me with the others?”

“There’s more?” I asked. “Of course. I’d be ha...” She cut me off, saying, “You’re a dear. They’re back here.” She turned and began walking briskly up the driveway toward the back of the house. I glanced back at my notebook lying on the grass, wondering if I should move it, but realizing that she was still speaking to me, I walked at a double-step pace to catch up with her. As we rounded the corner of the house together, she pointed to a giant stack of a dozen or more fence segments and said, “There they are.”

One by one, we dragged them onto a new pile near the street. We were about halfway down the driveway with the final section of the fence when a large city truck arrived. A giant claw emerged from the top, quickly lifting each of the fence pieces into the back of the truck. By the time we had dragged the final fence piece to the end of the driveway, the claw gently snatched it from our hands and lifted it away.

With a big grin on her face, she turned to me and said, “Whew! We just made it, didn’t we?” I chuckled in agreement as she continued, “I can’t thank you enough. I’m sorry, but I don’t have any cash to offer you.” I raised an open hand of calm, saying, “No, no. It’s okay. I have to get going though because I am running late to meet with someone.” She looked down at the ground, saying, “I feel terrible.” I picked up my notebook and said, “Really, don’t worry about it. It’s okay.” I rushed over to the coffee shop, just in time for my meeting.

Less than two weeks later, my wife announced, “It’s time!” We rushed to the hospital, and after 20 hours of labor, our daughter was born. Once we were cleared to bring our new baby home, I went out to our car to set up the baby seat. I pulled up to the front door of the hospital and could already see my wife through the window, seated in a wheelchair, waiting for me with our baby in her arms.

The July sun was blazing, over 90 degrees that day. So, I decided to leave the car running with the air conditioning on while I went inside to retrieve my precious cargo. Not thinking fully, as I got out of the car, I pressed the lock button and firmly swung the car door shut. I had just locked myself out of our car and knew it instantly.

After pathetically hoping that the passenger door was still unlocked, I went inside the hospital lobby and admitted my predicament to my wife and the nurse who was helping with the wheelchair. No one was smiling anymore. The lady behind the front desk offered to call a locksmith for us. Soon, a white van pulled up behind my car, and I went out to meet them.

As I walked around the front of the van, the locksmith was already reaching into the open sliding side door of the van to gather their tools. I said, “My wife just had our first baby, and I’ve stupidly locked my keys in our car...” The locksmith leaned back from the van to face me, and the same astonished look of surprise washed over both of our faces. It was her! The woman with the fence was a locksmith.

“Let’s get this door open, shall we?” Within five minutes, she had our car door unlocked. I got my wife and baby safely loaded into our car. As I came back around to the driver’s side door, the locksmith handed me a receipt that had “no charge!” written across the bottom with a little smiley face. I looked up at her, and she simply said, “Happy baby!”

Last Friday, our happy baby turned 30 years old. You never know how a small act of kindness may come back to you when you least expect it, or need it most. I could not have known that I was helping a lady locksmith that day, or that she would be the one called by the hospital from among more than a dozen other locksmiths listed in the Yellow Pages. For us, it truly was as today’s fortune says, “A simple kindness today will soon bring you unexpected rewards.”