A timely gift from the Safeway deli

The strangest thing can turn a day upside down.

Or right side up.

Here’s proof ...

Through a combination of circumstances, I spent Christmas Day alone.

Well, Sammie the Cat was around (and got served the most expensive Fancy Feast cod dinner), but she hardly counts as somebody you want to meet under the mistletoe.

So I was a bit grim right at the start, but then came another downer: The mother of a friend quite unexpectedly sent me a gift.

Why a downer, you say?

Shouldn’t that cheer you up?

No, not when the present was a subscription to a magazine called “Good Old Days,” which basically aims at readers who heard the Pearl Harbor announcement live on the radio.

Or voted for Harry Truman.

Thanks for the kind thought, but geez, how old do you think I am?

A Korean War vet, maybe?

Sigh.

THAT VERY odd gift did little to improve my mood.

I decided to cheer myself up with something fun to eat, a bona fide treat that I normally wouldn’t go out to find.

Not in minus-200 wind chill, anyhow.

I thought at length about what I really wanted. What was so rich and wonderful that it could flip my mood around?

Ah, yes...

Key Lime pie.

Unfortunately, I live out at Twin Lakes Village and there isn’t exactly a giant grocery store just up the street.

I started Googling.

Super 1 in Rathdrum was closed. Ditto Walmart down in Post Falls.

Becoming desperate, I looked up the Safeway store at Government Way and Neider Avenue in Coeur d’Alene — my old neighborhood.

Now we’re talking about a 35-minute drive, but I was getting stubborn.

The web page said the store was open until 5 p.m., but did they have Key Lime pie?

I called to ask, and thought I heard the recording say: “Choose 3 for the bakery department.”

BUT THAT was wrong.

I had spaced it out, and wound up hearing a voice say: “Deli, this is Kevin.”

Oops.

Of course I apologized, and said I’d meant to reach the bakery.

“What do you need?” Kevin said. “It’s right down the aisle and I can ask.”

“I’m looking for Key Lime pie,” I admitted, “and I don’t want to drive from north of Rathdrum to discover you don’t have one.”

“No problem,” Kevin said. “Hold on a minute.”

Soon he was back with the news that there was no fresh Key Lime pie, but they did have the frozen variety.

The coolest thing, though, came afterward when Kevin stayed on the line and we got to talking about Christmas.

He said he understood why I was searching for something special, and Kevin admitted that he was hoping to leave a little early that afternoon.

The conversation went on, halted only by Kevin waiting on a few occasional customers, and by the time we just simply had to go ...

I had a new friend.

Gave up on the Key Lime pie, but ...

As I said, just one surprise can change a day.

So Kevin Ames, thanks for saving my Christmas.

- • •

Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press.

Email: [email protected].

Facebook: BrandNewDayCDAPress.

Twitter: @BrandNewDayCDA