This past Thursday, my dog wasn’t feeling well. She stopped eating and I wanted to get something to entice her to eat. I went to the store to get a rotisserie chicken for us and some coleslaw for me. I can’t use a shopping cart as a walker, so I usually shop at Walmart because they have their electric carts near the entrance. There was not one handicap parking spot available there, so I decided to try a local chain store on my way back home. I was sitting in the parking lot when a shopper stopped and asked if I needed a cart. I told her I needed an electric cart and she offered to go get one for me. A few minutes later a young lady who works there came out the door on a cart waving and shouting to me, “I’m on my way!” When she got there, I told her she was an angel of mercy. She said, “Almost. I died twice last year.” I said, “Wow! I’m glad you are still with us.” Then I told her, “I haven’t died once yet, but I have been born twice.” Her broad smile told me she knew exactly what I meant.
In the crowded store, people considerately made room for me to maneuver past them to get to the deli. There were a couple of people ahead of me and they were calling numbers but I couldn’t see a ticket dispenser so I asked a customer where she got her number and she said, “I’ll get you one.” The counter was too high to reach from the cart, so the woman waiting on me brought my food all the way around the counter and handed it to me with a smile. The man who was next in line said, “I tried save you a trip by offering to hand it to him.” She said, “I don’t mind. It’s part of my job.” On the way out of the store the same young woman who brought the cart to me followed me to my car to bring the cart back into the store. I inquired about her health problems and she told me she falls every other day. She said, “No, I literally fall every other day. I fell this morning so I’m good now until Saturday.” I wished her soft landings and improved health as I drove away.
Why am I sharing all of this with you? There is so much anger and hatred in our society today. It seems every news item is negative. Activists on all sides deliberately widen every gap or division that separates us. But when people encounter each other one on one, kindness and civility still exist. Don’t get me wrong. I know there are some uncaring, self-centered people in the world. Some of the folks who moved out of my way in the store might have done so in self-defense instead of kindness, but there is a lot more civility and kindness than we are led to believe. No one cared about my age, gender, race, political affiliation or what church, if any, I attend. They simply saw another human being in need and they wanted to help. It is at times like that when I realize my physical limitation might actually be an advantage, because it helps me bring out the best in people. For a few minutes their focus is on someone else’s needs instead of their own problems. I am blessed greatly by every kind act, no matter how large or small and I know it brightens their day when they are able to reach out and help another person. Kindness is love in action and God wants us – no, commands us – to love one another as He loves us.