I was born in Maine.
In about 1991 I needed a copy of my
birth certificate to renew my passport, and I needed it fast.
I called the Sagadahoc County
courthouse, and after 3 calls and dozens of rings, someone finally answered.
I started explaining my situation to
the courteous man that answered the phone, and he interrupted me with:
"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but the
State of Maine is closed."
I didn't understand what that meant,
so I asked him, "What do you mean, 'the State of Maine is closed'?"
"Well, we ran out of money, so
the State is closed.”
“YOU’RE there.”
“ I'm the janitor. I was just up
here sweeping and answered the phone because it rang so long."
Hmmm... "Well when is the State
going to reopen? I need a copy of my birth certificate."
"We don't know. Could be a
week, could be a month, or could be a year. But I know the lady who is in
charge of the birth certificates. I can call her at home and have her call
you."
Wow... What kind of state is this
that I was born in?...But more importantly, what are the odds that 1) the janitor would be in the area when I called, 2) he would answer the phone and 3) he would just happen to know the very person I had to talk to, and knew her well enough to call her at home???
Within an hour the Maine Birth
Certificate lady called me. I explained what I needed, and told her I would pay
lots of money for my birth certificate, because I needed a passport fast.
She said, "No problem. I'll go
up to my office this afternoon, make you a certified copy of your birth
certificate and overnight it to you. You should have it by tomorrow."
"Great! You just don't know
what this means to me. I will overnight a check to you. How much?"
"Oh it's free. I have no way to
deposit a check because Maine is closed. I will just do this for you."
"Well I can send you a personal
check for your time and effort and the cost of the postage."
"No thanks. I wasn't doing
anything today except drinking tea and watching TV. It's a good excuse to get
out of the house."
The next day my certified birth
certificate arrived in the mail. I never knew anything but this
lady's first name, but whenever I think about "random acts of
kindness" I always think about her and pray a little prayer for her.
And I did get my passport.
