Column: Sweet, sweet karma

I'm by no means a spiritual guru who spends hours a day cross legged on the floor mediating, but I'm a firm believer in karma. What goes around often does come around.

While I certainly have my moments, I try to do the best I can and treat people the way I would like to be treated. It's a simple mantra but it usually works out for the best.

Despite my best intentions, I sometimes mess up and usually get a swift kick in the butt from my good friend karma. Last week was a perfect example of this.

While a lot of people think I'm at the office at the crack of dawn on Wednesday finishing up the two newspapers this is far from the case. The papers are always sent to the printer on Tuesday afternoon or evening and Wednesday is a day where I update the websites, prepare the weekly postal statement, and get ready for next the week. I learned as a publisher the more I get ready before the week of the paper the smoother things will go. Melissa will drive to Anaconda to pick up the two papers and do the deliveries and I'm very appreciative because I can really get things rolling for the next editions.

Because I'm not out and about dealing with people I tend to usually dress like a "hobo". It is usually a quiet day, so I'm not really worried about dressing to impress.

I had just finished the websites last week when I got hungry and decided to grab something to eat for a late breakfast. I certainly wasn't probably dressed to go out and eat but nothing was going to stop me from biscuits and gravy.

As I was waiting for my food I was looking outside, and it was depressing to see the snow had returned and the winter that never seems to end kept rolling on. I was drifting off into day dream land when a car door slammed from outside and quickly grabbed my attention. Someone was exiting their vehicle and as soon as they hit the ice and snow, they started to slip. It seemed like it took forever as they tried to regain their balance and I knew this was not going to end well. And it didn't. They must have flown about three feet in the air before falling right on their behind. My normal reaction is to feel bad for someone when this happen but last week my instant reaction was to laugh. I nearly spit my orange juice out I was laughing so hard. Quickly I realized it wasn't as funny as I thought, and I felt a lot better that they were able to quickly recover and go on their way.

I should have never laughed.

About ten minutes later I was walking down the main street in town and I hit a patch of ice and it was over. I was also probably three feet in the air, and I didn't quite nail the landing as gracefully as them.

Just when I thought I had received my dose of karma for the day I realized once again I never should have laughed.

Part of my problem had to do with my "hobo" attire and the need to wear hard soled slippers in the office even if it appears to be Antarctica outside. Two minutes after my first spill I fell so hard by the senior center that it knocked the wind out of me. I must have looked pretty silly laying on the street but that is exactly what I deserved for my earlier laughter.

The next time I see someone in the suspended world of trying not to fall I'm going bust through the wall like the Kool-Aid Man and try to save them – OH YEAH!

I'm also going to start wearing better shoes.

Stay safe and don't slip!