An Unexpected Delight

“Hi!” he said, a big smile lighting up his ten-year-old face.

“Hi,” I replied.

“Can I show you something?” he asked.

It had been a difficult day of travel. After my flight had been delayed, missing my connecting flight, and flying out the following morning (after an additional delay), I had just arrived at the Eugene Airport. It had been a wonderful two and a half weeks of seeing old friends and being in retreat, and now I was ready to go home.

I was on my way to meet Tim curbside, but how could I refuse the enthusiasm of this boy. So, with his parents nearby, he took me to a machine in front of a colorful mural with a sign that said “Take a Free Story to Go!”

“This machine,” he said, “is going to print out a story.” Okay … And sure enough, a long white tape, about the width of adding machine tape (remember those) started spitting out.

“Holy smokes,” I commented. “Is that for me?”

“Sure is!”

Eugene Airport is a tiny regional airport, the closest one to our house at 1 hour and 45 minutes away, so I was quite surprised to see this machine there. A little deep dive, as is often my style, revealed that 600 of these short story dispensers are found in transportation hubs, schools, hospitals, and other public spaces throughout the world, and this particular one is the only one located at an airport in the Pacific Northwest. The stories in the collection are by local, international, and kids writers. The dispenser is a provided through a partnership between the Eugene Airport, the Eugene Public Library and the Eugene Public Library Foundation.

Besides just a fun day-in-the-life story, my point here is this: How much do we miss as we go about our busy days? As a self-proclaimed bibliophile who literally always has at least one e-book and/or printed book checked out from the public library, this short story dispenser is something I wouldn’t want to miss. Anything that encourages reading, community connection, and local engagement, all for free, is right up my alley.

So thank you to the boy who reminded me to slow down, engage with my surroundings and invite in the unexpected. We can always make time to enjoy the little things. Which sounds like another future article – “Making Time.”

And if I were even more aware, I would have gotten that boy’s name.