Many of the best things in Cape May are free

In a previous column, I wrote about how tourists will stand on a corner, iPhone in one hand and a colorful street map in the other. It’s difficult to tell whether they are reading text messages from friends back home or looking at Google Maps to figure out where they are going. And one of my purposes in life is to help those people get where they are going. I can’t help myself.

 

One such incident happened on a recent Wednesday. I was minding my own business, by which I mean I was working in the garden, pulling invasive weeds from the front of full-blooming tiger lily plants. An elderly couple was 50 feet from the corner, iPhone in one hand and a four-color map in the other. It seems there is no age barrier to technology.

“Can I help you find where you are going?” I blurted out. “Oh, we are just borrowing the shade of your tree,” they said.

The comment made me pause and reflect on how many of the best things in Cape May are free. We are borrowing the shade of your tree, which is like handing out a cold drink.

Extending kindness is free. Holding the door at Wawa is free.  The cashier at Wawa, who is holding up the line to assist a customer in distress with a cell phone charger, is not only being kind but also doing the right thing.

Tina Marie posted on the Cape May Live Facebook Group that her father visited her on the beach this week. Her father has mobility issues. They took advantage of the assisted mobility chairs offered by the Cape May Beach patrol.  Finding it difficult to navigate through the sand, a couple of gentlemen strangers did the right thing and helped them push forward on the beach.

“Later, leaving, we had extra to carry with the grandparents, and this awesome guy came up and took a bunch of our stuff up to the boards with us – sooooo nice to feel the sense of community and kindness! Just 1 of a million reasons I love Cape May!” She posted. Scenes like this often go unnoticed but happen frequently.

Around town, calls for help to find everything from eyeglasses, rings, jewelry, and even dentures have appeared on social media this week. Yes, you read that correctly. In many cases, items were recovered and returned to their rightful owners.

Cape May life is not always rainbows and sunsets, but we sure do get our share of them. It is the season when we are inundated with legions of bicycles, low-speed vehicles, and those four-wheeled contraptions the kids love to sit on the front basket while mom and dad slow down traffic. This means that we all need to visit the well of patience and pray that it is deep.

It wasn’t so deep for me the other day. While traveling south on Broadway, traffic was routine: stop, start, and crawl. An obsessive signaler and frequent waver to pedestrians, I am sure I have tested the patience of drivers behind me on occasion.

On this morning, I was signaling to make a left into the parking lot of Westside Market on Broadway. The bicycle traffic was also heavy in the bike lane. A very courteous northbound driver paused to wave me to commence my left into the lot. As I initiated my turn, a speedy fixed-gear style bike passed me on the left side of my vehicle (driver’s side).

The bicyclist’s life passed before my eyes, my heart raced, and I may have yelled an expletive or two. The thought of my bacon, egg, and cheese on a farmhouse roll was the last thing I was thinking about.

Indeed, the backpack-wearing rider knew what he was doing, but his judgment left a little to be desired. By the time I arrived home, my breakfast sandwich was medicinal.

Life’s moments often linger with us at times. The bicycle incident startled me and kept me edgy for a few days. We all need to slow down a little, help each other out, and perhaps hold a few doors open for one another. And when it gets hot out, please feel free to borrow the shade of someone’s tree.