Thank You For Your Random Acts Of Kindness

Yesterday, the fiance and I went to our local Western Bagel. I'm a huge fan of the Traditional (minus the capers, yuck!). As we enter the business, my partner holds the door open for a man who looks like he's a bit rushed. An employee offers to take the next customer in line, and my fiance and I (independently, at the same time) gesture with our arms and tell the guy to go in front of us. We hadn't completely decided on what to order yet, so we didn't want to hold up the line. The guy seemed a bit surprised and made his order. We then made ours.

While I waited for our order, I noticed the man had just a turkey sandwich. But as the stranger began to pay for his order, I heard the employee say something about "two traditionals and one lox and cream cheese" (part of our order). I'm not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes, so the significance eluded me; for the time being, I just thought they were overcharging him. He sat, took about two bites of his sandwich, and then left, not even asking for a to-go box.

Our bagels were ready in a few minutes, so my fiance walked up to help carry the plates to the table while I took care of the bill. As I approached to get rung up, the employees looked at me a little confused. There was a short little discussion amongst themselves in Spanish, but I caught "muchacho". A male friend? An employee explained: "Your friend? The guy? He paid for your order." Now it was my turn to be confused. "Yeah, he paid for everything but the last bagel. $1.46 please." I handed her my card and returned to the table to explain the whole thing to my fiance. Needless to say, he was as surprised as I was.

To that guy, and anyone else who does a kindness for a stranger, keep in mind that you may have just turned someone's day around. While obviously not too poor to go to Western Bagel, money isn't exactly free-flowing for us, or for millions or other Americans. Even the smallest courtesy, favor, or charity can make someone whose life is on the edge have just enough hope to keep going, to keep pushing toward the goal of someday it being better than the day before. Just a compliment can be enough to help someone be able to put one foot in front of the other, even when it feels their feet are encased in concrete. No matter how little you have, you can always at least give someone a compliment. There's a neat warm fuzzy feeling you get when you put a smile on someone's face because of thoughtful words.

The only way out of this economy is if we help each other, through small acts of kindness. A purchased meal, help with household chores, getting together to cook meals for the week, all these things that build community will make it easier for all of us to survive, and survive happily, if we just stop being selfish enough in thinking we don't have the time or the energy. To receive, give. I have never found this to not be true.