The Perquisite Pumpkin

Per-qui-site (noun, formal)

“Another term for perk, as in extra or unexpected gift or benefit”

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! So about this time every year my wife starts baking dozens of loaves of Pumpkin Nut Bread to give to friends and family. Her Pumpkin Nut Bread isn’t just a “good eat” it’s absolutely 100% insanely delicious. I’ve told her many times she should start a business selling it and even though it’s only one product, she would probably get very rich with it.

However, my wife isn’t interested in getting rich. She just wants to put smiles on people’s faces…and boy does that pumpkin bread work!

On Saturday she gave me some pumpkin bread to give to each of my golfing buddies. We teed off super early in the cold and frosty morning air but finished in warm sunlight before noon. In between we had a great time golfing and sharing guy type stories and before I left, I gave each one of them a small loaf of my wife’s pumpkin nut bread. About an hour later I got a phone call from “JB” and he started the conversation saying, “I am not a considerate person. I mean I never call anyone to say thanks. But as I was driving home I couldn’t resist trying the pumpkin bread your wife made and it is really awesome. I don’t know…I just felt compelled and had to call you to say thank you!”

I laughed when I got that phone call from “JB”. He is such a great guy and I always have fun golfing with him, but his description of himself as not being a considerate person cracked me up. Maybe he doesn’t take the time to call and say thank you sometimes, but he is far from inconsiderate. He’s a single father who adores his son, an employer who is highly respected by his employees and a person who does a ton of charity work all year long. “JB” is a class act all the way and I actually feel guilty now that I gave him such a small loaf. (I’ll have to give him a double loaf at Christmas time!)

That phone call got me thinking about how the smallest acts of kindness can often have a profound impact on people. It might be a small loaf of pumpkin bread, or a quick phone call to say thanks, or even just a bright smile from a stranger. But no small act of kindness is ever a singular event. One person touched…touches another…who touches another… who touches another…and so on. Any act of kindness, even a perquisite pumpkin, is a gift that can keep on giving exponentially!  

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.

~ Cicero