Tax Day good deed

As a single renter, there is one truth I have come to expect - Tax Day sucks.  I miss out on the big deductions - kids and mortgage - through no ones fault but my own.  So no matter how much I try to withhold, it always seems that tax day does not mean a refund, but writing checks to the government.

"Taxes are the price of a free society" says the logo etched into the facade of the Treasury Department in DC.  I suppose.  I would feel better about the payment however, if I could see some tangible evidence of my donation.  Sadly, the only news I learn about usually is the result of misuse.  Rarely do homeless people come up to me on the street and thank me for my tax contribution to help them get off crack (though I would like to believe my funds did help at least one person).

This year I did a particularly bad year getting my returns together, and I gave my accountant painfully little time to do his job, either.  On Monday, the day before taxes are due, I got my returns back.  I packed them in with my stuff to take care of Tuesday (again, it is not like I have a lot going on during the day at work).  I grabbed my checkbook and stamps, too.  Problem one - I only have one stamp left.  I will probably need more so now I will have to go to the Post Office, but the one by work is fairly quick and efficient.  

I find time in my "busy" schedule to look through my returns for 2007.  It takes a while to swallow the bile.  As great a job as the accountant did last year, this year was the complete opposite.  I would be writing checks, for a lot more than I want.  I started going through them, but I realized even if I found the mistake today, I couldn't get it changed in time, so I might as well pay, and deal with any corrections later.  It was at this point I realized problem number 2 - I only had one check left in my checkbook.  

Sh!t.  Now I am going to have to go to the place I dread - the main branch of the PO.  It is the closest one to my home, it is open late, which is good for me, but it will be packed with every other last minute filer, too.  After work, I go to the gym to pick up heavy objects for a while - you know - get the tension out - before I head home.  Fortunately, I still had one book of checks at home (otherwise I am REALLY screwed).  I write out the checks and head down to the PO.  

This being Minnesota, the Post Office was prepared for crowds and had parking attendants ready and organized to manage the traffic flow (God bless them!).  So after I parked I went inside to the very long line.  All my returns looked to be normal sized both for weight and size.  If they had one automated stamp machine, I would be gold, but unfortunately not.  No stamp machine exists, so Jimbo waits in line.  

It was long, but it moved fast.  It took me about 40 minutes to get through it, but again, since this is Minnesota, everyone knows how to properly queue and there is respect for everyones personal space.   It is the little things like this that really like this about my state.  I have no Scandinavian roots, but I think I have earned the equivalent of a Green Card for Sweden.

I get to the counter, and yes, all it took was a first class stamp.  By the way, that is $0.41 nowadays.  I buy a sheet of stamps too. The total transaction time at the window took less than 30 seconds.  As I am heading out the door, a man starts calling "sir, excuse me sir" behind me.  It took me a minute to realize he was talking to me.  I am still in workout clothes, smell bad, look worse, and I don't like being called sir.  

It was a guy in his 30's who, like me, only needed a simple first class stamp to mail his return.  He saw me walking out with a sheet of stamps and offered to buy one from me for $1.

I gave him one.  He tried to pay me, but I refused.  He offered again - he was very nice - but I told him it was not necessary.  I'm just paying it forward.  He thanked me again and ran off to mail his return.

As I was driving home, I realized something.  Today, I spent hundreds and thousands of dollars that will be used to support my fellow Americans through social programs, medical coverage, war efforts and other government programs.  Of all the money I gave, I think that $0.41 I gave to help another person was the best spent money of the day.