Grace found in a venti green tea latte

Yesterday afternoon I was attempting learning how to play the guitar with my new friend, Andrea. (I might be biting off more than I can chew trying to learn so much in such a short period of time.) She is teaching me guitar in Spanish and English. It's a bit different. After a while (when my hand and head were sufficiently tired) we got to talking about America. She mentioned how at first she hated the country, but then she started appreciating some of the finer qualities such as the great customer service. (If you don’t like something, you can take it back and get something new, no problem.) Things like that I certainly have taken for granted often.

Our discussion reminded me of a time in Madison that I was in Starbucks and purchased a beverage and shortly after spilled it all over the floor. We’re talking a whole cup of a green tea latte running all over a table and floor that I clumsily knocked over when I was getting a book out of my backpack or something. I went to a worker to ask for a mop or something to clean up myself. Instead she came out to clean up the mess and went so far as to replace the spilled beverage free of charge. I think she actually gave me a size larger than the one I ordered. I stood there awkwardly and surprised that something that at first made me lament my kutziness ended up fine, bright even. I didn’t have to be ashamed and leave the coffee shop never to return. I know they do stuff like that to make you want to come back for business sake but even so... Andrea reminded me, that’s grace. And that sort of thing wouldn’t happen in an Argentine Starbucks (there are some in Buenos Aires because it’s taking over the world like McDonalds and Walmart. Oh capitalism). I have noticed that the service here is markedly different from that of the US. For example, the other night when I went out to eat, we waited for a while just for our order and someone didn’t even get their drink in the end.
Going back to my Starbucks story about grace. It’s so true! Everything about the situation was grace. Even though it was accidental, I made a mess and didn’t have to do anything for the situation to be made right, but accept the help, recognizing that I needed assistance to fix what happened.
A free, undeserved gift. More than I thought to ask for.
I hope I'll demonstrate the goodness of grace similarly to Argentines, without words (particularly since my Spanish ability is woefully lacking sometimes.)
In other news, after hours of sanding and painting furniture, my apartment is finally set up and ready for hosting! My roommate and I are in the process of picking a date to throw a house-warming party. Pictures coming soon. :)