I was driving in downtown Tampa and accidentally went into the pedestrian lane, and this guy walking through cussed me out, threatened to key my car, and flicked me off. I was a little shaken up because he sort of came out of nowhere. A bunch of people were staring at me and this guy, who was cussing the whole way. I drove around the block a dozen times and couldn’t find parking, so I paid ten bucks for a pass. I went into the pizza place (by myself to eat a whole 20 inch pizza, because Friday night) and was in sort of a crappy mood. A nice young black lady next to me asked, “Are you really going to eat that by yourself?” I laughed really hard and we started chatting. When I went back to my car, I took out my parking pass, which was good until midnight, and gave it to a couple that just happened to drive in. They thanked me a whole lot and I left feeling way better.

Life is up and down, all the time. Might be a bad moment now, but joy is around the corner.

— J.S.