Charlie Turner’s Gift

The office Holiday party had ended and the pity party had begun. Charlie Turner sat in the high-rise office building, sulking. Everyone else had gotten Christmas Eve afternoon off. But not Charlie. Oh no. The mountain of paper on his desk meant that he had to work on the night before Christmas. So he sat behind his desk, staring out at the empty cityscape. No cars. No people. No good reason why he had to be sitting there. Looking at the pictures of his family on his desk made him really want to be home with them. City Hall’s Christmas tree’s lights came on and the stars illuminated the cold, dark sky. It was going to be a long night. And he was pissed.

It had been a terrible year. Business was down. Layoffs were up. Furloughs had decimated his already shrinking paycheck. Insurance costs were through the roof and his checking account was struggling. His office was on the 18th floor but his morale was 18 stories below ground. How could it get any worse?

2011 was the worst year ever. And he would tell you 1,000 reasons why.

When the clock read 10 p.m., he had had enough. He shut down his computer and turned out his office light. He waked through the empty cubicles and headed to the elevator. The guard in the lobby wished him a Merry Christmas as he headed to his car. If the guard would have noticed, he would have seen a black cloud over Charlie’s head.

The cold wind stung his face as he walked out of the office building. The usually busy street was empty of people and cars. He turned to the right and headed toward the parking garage. The tinkle of a bell jarred him into the moment. He looked back to the left and there was an elderly black man in a Santa suit. Ding. Ding. Ding. “Alms for the poor?” the man shouted.

Charlie looked at him and said, “Not getting much business tonight, are you old timer?” The man smiled and just kept ringing the bell. A wave of guilt washed over Charlie and prompted him to dig into his pocket for some change. The coins rattled in the empty kettle and the old man said, “Thank you, sir. By the way, your life isn’t as bad as you think. And after tonight, you’ll know why.”

Charlie scoffed as he bundled himself against the cold. What was that old man talking about? And how smart was he anyway? Begging on a night like tonight. What an idiot.

Consumed in his self pity, Charlie got into his car and tried to crank it. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing again. The battery was totally dead. “#$%#$.”

He called his wife, broke the bad news to her and called AAA. He waited 30 minutes until the tow-truck driver arrived. When he stepped out of the truck, Charlie heard, “Why do I have to be out here in this cold to help this moron?”

Charlie, shocked, said, “That’s rude as Hell. I’m not a moron.”

“I didn’t say anything.” the driver said. And then Charlie heard, “How did he know that?”

Charlie realized, he was hearing the man’s thoughts.

“I’d rather be with my wife tonight. Instead, I’m here because this idiot left his lights on. She’s dying of cancer and I’m standing in the middle of downtown at night. I hate my life.”

Charlie was stunned. He thanked the man and gave him a nice tip. He then headed out of town and toward the suburbs.

Three miles on the interstate and tphis car’s engine started knocking. “#$%$,” he thought. The low-fuel light had been on for two days and he hadn’t gotten gas. And now he was paying for it. He eased the car off the highway and into one of the few open gas stations around. Could tonight get worse?

Charlie rolled up to the gas pump right as the engine died. He started pumping gas and began to hear the thoughts of the people all around him. He heard the lady behind the counter, “Six kids, one sick, I’m about to lose my house and I have to work three jobs.” He then heard the guy pumping gas next to him. “Christmas Eve and my family is in Dallas. My stupid wife left me for my best friend and now I can’t even see my kids tomorrow.” And then he heard a policeman’s thoughts,”I hope I don’t get shot tonight.” A little old lady walked out of the store, “I wish my son was here with me for Christmas instead of in jail. I need someone to be with me when I get back my results from the biopsy.” Another man thought, “I hope my only son makes it back from Afghanistan.”

He began to hear the worries of people driving by on the interstate and then from people in his whole town. Everyone’s thoughts got louder and louder and began to drown out Charlie’s own. He grabbed the receipt out of the pump and hopped back in the car, hoping for silence. It wouldn’t come. He put his hands over his ears and yelled, “MAKE IT STOP!”

And then Charlie saw him. He was standing next to the door to the convenience store ringing his bell next to a kettle. It was the same eldery black man dressed in a Santa suit who Charlie had seen outside of his office building. Charlie heard, “Alms for the poor!”

Charlie got out of his car and ran over to the man pleading, “Who are you?!?”

The man stopped ringing the bell and said to Charlie, “See? Your life isn’t so bad. These are tough times. And everyone you meet is walking around with their own cross to bear. So I gave you a little gift. The gift of being able to hear other peoples’ worries. It’s a little Christmas gift so you can have a little empathy and realize you don’t have it so bad. So get your head out of your rear end. Go home to your beautiful family and enjoy your Christmas. And then go and enjoy your life. It’s really a good one, you know. You should learn to appreciate it. Oh, and to answer your question, I’m getting plenty of business tonight.”

And at that moment, the voices in Charlie’s head went silent.

Charlie, blessed with an epiphany, dug out his wallet and threw three $20’s into the kettle. “Merry Christmas old timer.” The old man smiled and started ringing his bell again, looking for his next customer.

Thanks to a mysterious old man with a bell and a kettle, Charlie Turner truly began appreciate the blessings in his life. He vowed to make it and others’ better. And from that Christmas Eve on, he never complained again.