Day 13

Yesterday was the 13th day in my project. It was the day after I had posted some things to barter with, so I was eager to see if anyone had responded yet. I checked my e-mail and found a message regarding my post on freecycle.org. A woman was interested in a couple of books I had, Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan, and Letter to my Daughter by Maya Angelou. She offered to trade $10 worth of gas for the books. I accepted, and we decided on meeting at the gas station near the mall at 5:15. I had planned to take my lunch break at 5, but when I saw I had a conference call that day at the same time, I was worried I'd have to reschedule my barter. By some stroke of luck the conference call was canceled due to both the D.M. and G.M. being out of town the same week. I was so glad I didn't have to call the woman to reschedule our barter.

I parked at the Quick Trip and waited. I was a few minutes early so I decided to call my mom. When I told her what books I was bartering she was immediately hurt. The one by Maya Angelou had been a Christmas gift a couple of years ago from my parents. My mom had even written a sweet note in the front and dated it. I explained to her that I had read the book and had enjoyed it, and that I didn't need the book to know that she loved me.
She was still upset. She said in 30 years when she was "gone", she thought I might like to have it to remember her by.

My mom, by the way, is a master in the art of guilt tripping. After our short conversation, in only two minutes or so, I was covered in guilt. I felt it sticking to my skin, clogging up my pores, globs and globs of it. If they could sell this feeling, I imagine the bottle would read: *Parentally Projected Guilt* underneath the product name, in smaller text, would be the slogan: *the worst kind of guilt*. I envisioned it in an old-fashioned tonic font.

I looked down at the two books, and too soon, the woman I was bartering with pulled up beside me. She got out of her minivan smiling and came to my window carrying a couple of plastic bags.
"I brought you a few things"
I had only been expecting to receive gas for my books, I peaked into one of the bags.
"How did you know I needed shampoo?!" I was stunned by both her kindness and intuition.
She replied that I had mentioned it in my blog. I told her about my conversation with my mom and she offered to only take one book. I felt like this was an uneven trade, especially since she had given me extra items as well, so I came up with a compromise. I asked her if she would be willing to take both books right then, and when I was able to find another copy of Letter to my Daughter, we would meet again to trade. She agreed. She told me she was a mom to two young boys so she completely understood. I was so grateful that she found the time to meet with me. I thanked her for everything, gave her a big hug, and left feeling content that I would be able to get the book back eventually.