The Karma Melon

Karma.  It can be good or bad, but the more I take notice, the better it is.  The dollar I spent on a Mega Millions ticket didn't pay off last week, but another small investment I made did.  Being out and about often, you come to know and recognize others who are "on the streets" often as well.  That includes more homeless people than I'd ever expect to find in a city this size. All hours of the day, they sit, they walk, they strike up conversations with me.  I see the same people pretty much every day and have gotten to know many of them by name.
One evening, I headed into a convenience store for a snack.  Although I'm surrounded by dozens of delicious restaurants whose aromas taunt me as I ride through town, I try not to be tempted because I'd be spending money rather than earning it, and who wants to eat dinner alone?  As I walked out of the store and headed back to my bike taxi, a woman (I'm trying to be politically correct but since I want to paint a picture of the scene, it was a man rocking an 80's style woman's haircut and wearing women's clothing) asked me for a dollar.  I assume she was homeless because I've seen her a few times since then.  I had already torn into the bag of Cheetohs I had bought, so feeling guilty that I was eating and she was not, I reached my bright orange Cheetohs covered fingers into my pocket and procured a dollar. She was appreciative and headed into the store too.  Would she come out with Cheetohs and experience my sense of enjoyment as well, I wondered?  I watched as she returned with a cigar.  Not what I was expecting, but I didn't judge.  I thought about what I'd spend a dollar on if I only had one. Guaranteed it wouldn't be a cigar, but to each her own.
A day or so later, I was at the farmer's market picking up some veggies.  I only had seven dollars in cash but only needed a few things: garlic, sundried tomatoes, spinach, onions and cucumbers.  I grabbed a melon because it's melon season and I knew it'd be nice and fresh.  Well, that melon brought my total to eight dollars and rather than hold up the line while I fumbled for my debit card and changed my method of payment, I told the cashier to just put the melon back.  A lovely woman behind me in line said, "Oh no! Give her the melon.  Here ma'am, have a dollar."  I really appreciated the offer, but my pride got the best of me and I felt guilty because I could have bought it with my debit card so I said, "No, thank you, I really don't need the melon."  She insisted though and said if it felt more fair to me, I could give her one of the five garlic heads I had in my hand that came as a package.  She only needed one, and there was no way I'd use five anytime soon, so I was happy to oblige.  I smiled as I thought of the dollar I'd given away just a day earlier and knew that I'd just been the recipient of a karma melon.  What goes around really does come around.
So reflecting back on the lottery drawing I didn't win.  I understand comparing a melon with a winning lottery ticket is like comparing apples to oranges.  But regardless, I believe it's karma in action.  It's evident to me that if you share even just a little bit of kindness with others and take note of the small joys that you are the recipient of, you'll reap far more rewards than you may realize.  Some may say they'd prefer a Mega Millions winning ticket, but I feel so lucky to have all the "melons" I've received in my life, whether it's actually a melon, or a phone call from a good friend sharing good news, or the enjoyment I get from a bag of Cheetohs. To me, all this is like winning the lottery over and over again.