Pay It forward
Have you ever seen that commercial where a girl witnesses a guy do a good deed and then passes it on until it goes full circle? I always thought that was a nice idea, but rarely have witnessed it myself. Until this week!
Monday: While driving down Barrington I hit a busy intersection during rush hour traffic. There was an old lady crossing the street escorted arm in arm by a young man. She was smiling big and he was chatting her up. They came to the corner and he helped her step up onto the curb, said good bye, and he darted back across the street! He'd actually walked an old lady across the street simply to be kind!
Wednesday: While driving down Neilson Parkway I was stopped by a running pedestrian (they have the right of way without signals). I watched him get to the curb and then he immediately bent down to pick up an old food container someone had left behind and he dumped it into the trash. Then, he continued on his run.
Thursday: I was blocked in by a pick-up truck filled to the brim with oranges. The driver was in the back handing a construction worker fistfuls of them, and then he got into his truck and moved out of my way. As I drove down the street I noticed that every single construction worker on the block was now feasting on an orange. Laboring hard for the wealthy they enjoyed a simple but refreshing snack provided by the driver. I'm not sure if it was exactly a free gift, but I'd like to see it as kind anyways.
In writing stories, you learn that key themes are hammered home to your audience in 3's. If you watch any "good" movie you'll see it. Part of that is because the human brain is supposed to really recognize it as important by the third time, and so I'll take this theme not as an isolated incident, nor a coincidence, but a true testimony that people in this world still do stop to do kind things for strangers.
An appropriate one for this Easter Week.
