Once again I’m on the train after a less than stellar day’s work, my spirits flagging. A young woman gets on with four boys ages ranging 12 to 3, lined up like a little platoon.
I notice a middle-aged man scolding her for something, perhaps for pushing a bit, but hey, they’re kids, and she needs to make sure they’re all accounted for especially during rush hour.
The car is packed though I have a seat, looking at the youngest boy who was more than sweet in his little striped T-shirt, his face the color of cream, so I say, “Would you like to sit?”
The mother immediately says,” Don’t you get up for him. He can stand.”
The boy looks at me as if to say, I could use a lawyer on this.
I smile. “He’s little,” I say, “let him sit.”
He climbs onto the seat like it’s a pony, arranging himself, grinning at his brothers grinning at him. His mom pulls out a gadget that has a computer game he starts up with the grace of a Steve Jobs.
“He’s smart,” I say to the mother, whose exhausted face suddenly takes on the same smile I see emanating from her kids.
I then notice a shift in me where I no longer feel low and unworthy, like I’m worth ten cents a pound, after the way I was treated by some co-workers who are not too comfortable with my hearing loss.
My random act of kindness, forgetting about wounded feelings, was my martini, straight up, in a crystal glass.
Like St. Francis, the Elvis of Saints, said…
“Receiving is in the giving,” and he sure was right about that.
SB
You’re a wonderful person, really. Hope the rest of the week goes well Hal
Hal Rubenstein from my iPhone
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Thanks Hal. Me too. We shall hope for the best.
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Good kids always make you laugh.
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Yes they do.
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All kids are smart up until the point some bastard adult bullies and exploits them. They should play Pink Floyd’s The Wall at all schools… or they shouldn’t. I can still hear Jerusalem being sung in our memorial hall every morning and see the face of my fellow student (known for gut chilling acts in the boarding house who is very publicly destroying his elderly father through the courts these days. Nothing holy about religious pomp…. kids and animals tend to keep it honest and simple… except when they lie…. which sometimes is funny too.
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Kids and animals tend to keep it honest and simple…lovely line Coyote 🙂
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After following you for a few weeks, I’d say it wasn’t a random act of kindness at all. It was your habitual kindness that came out. You are really something out of the ordinary!
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I have no explanation really. My grandfather was my hero who when I was little taught me to be that way. I blame my perpetual consciousness on him. He was such a happy man who did things for people all day long. He was extraordinary. I’m merely a follower. But thanks Anne, for reading what I write. Means the world.
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You are a great follower of your granddad. You have become extraordinary.
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You’re too kind…a mantle I truly could never wear.
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It is better to give than to receive. Giving raises your spirits and self-doubt then runs out the door. You are the most giving person I know, Susannah, though it’s only cyberly… 😉
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I give in small ways. Would like to raise the ante, but shy away. Thank you for nice words.
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Yep, when you give you get. Not always right away but at some point…
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I see Saint Francis is a personal friend of yours…:)
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People love compliments, or those of their children…all that was so nice of you. your co-workers lose a couple notches from me.
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People aren’t comfortable around any type of disability, in my case, hearing loss. I think they think it’s catchy.
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Having a stroke has helped me see this…
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I’m sure it has…:)
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Mothers and children! From every logical point of view, breeding is just a mistake: demands on time, bodily resources, economics, they all say “NO!”. But you only have to witness the fulfillment to decide that logic does not impinge.
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They were beautifully dressed all neat and clean. She was under 30. You really have to admire her because it can’t be easy. I can barely take care of myself let alone a troop of young men with mischief on their fine faces.
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You do yourself down. They would respond to you.
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Perhaps.
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You have a way of bringing out smiles in those around you, Susannah. And the older (and wiser) we get, the more we recognize the truth of “Receiving is in the giving.”
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Well said Skinny…well said. 🙂
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It’s interesting how being nice to others actually helps us feel better. Must be part of our DNA. If only we would give it a chance regularly think of how much nicer the world would be for it? Susannah, this sounds like something your co-workers should try doing. :O)
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In a perfect world Paul perhaps. Patience is at a premium, while compassion is all but extinct, but then there’s me giving up my seat to a little Steve Jobs, so there’s hope. 🙂
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Dreams are built from such hope. :O)
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🙂
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Making someone smile after having a bad day yourself? Oh, that my friend is a double martini at best! I can only hope your behavior was contagious to those who witnessed that kindness.
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Probably not…New York is exhausted at that hour and is comatose, on it’s feet…sigh
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