Oh but aint that America, for you and me? Aint that America? Something to see, baby

Columbine, Oklahoma City, Guns, Fear, Jerry Springer, OJ, steroids in baseball, people suing McDonald's because theyre fat... That's America to most of us on the outside, but once in a while youll read a story like this and you know there's hope. You know that your friends and kin who chose to live there are going to be OK.

Pulling into my service station 45 minutes late one morning, I shouted to the customers, "I'll turn the pumps on right away!" What I didn't know was that the night crew had left them on all night. By the time I got to the office, most of the cars had filled up and driven off. Only one customer stayed to pay. My heart sank. Then the customer pulled a wad of cash from his pocket and handed it to me. "We kept passing the money to the last guy," he said. "We figured you'd get here sooner or later."
-----Contributed to "All In a Day's Work" by Jim Novak, Reader's Digest (this one's from my inbox)