Kindness
posted by Jackie Gaston
We are usually quick to grouse about the little rudenesses (is that a word?) that 'happen to us' out in the wide world...the driver who cuts us off, the shopping cart left in the middle of the isle, the slow line at the check out because the store manager did not plan well.
How often do we over look the kindnesses that come our way? I have been making an effort to notice each and every one. Despite the influx of people from all over the world into Austin, it is still hanging on to its soul somehow. It is seldom that anyone honks at another driver and that certainly is not the case in at least one other place in which I have lived. If you need to change lanes and simply put on your turn signal, sooner rather than later, someone will let you pull in front of them and into the lane you need. This happened to me the other night coming home down Mopac. It looked as though an accident had happened in the far left lane where I was. Everyone was slowing down at the sight of the flashing lights ahead. It seemed that the traffic in my lane was about to come to a screeching halt. Actually, all the traffic had just about stopped in every lane. I began giving my turn signal and a car two cars ahead of me practically stopped. The driver stuck his hand out of the window and motioned me to move in front of him. This person did not just let me over after we had both stopped. He made a special effort to let me around. I flashed my lights in thanks and got up to speed as soon as I could.
A week or two before that, I went to a shopping center to which I had only been one other time. The first time I was there, there were few people around so I parked in the middle of it in the little faux main street. This time, it was busy and I didn't even try to park there. I went around the side and pulled into a parking garage. I thought that I was on ground level with the shopping until I tried to find the way out of the garage. I did see elevators but I thought that they must go up to the residential area above the shops. I walked into what I thought was the opening into the shopping area only to find a set of stairs behind a locked gate. I had seen a man get out of his car and get into an elevator. As I came back out into the garage, he said, "Are you looking for the shops?" When I said that I was, he said for me t o get on the elevator with him and he would show me the way. It seems that I had driven up hill without realizing it and that I was now two floors above the shops. What makes this such a big kindness from my point of view is that this man got off the elevator and waited for me to come back into the garage because he had seen so many people get lost in there. He then showed me the breezeway to the shops and walked part of the way down it with me so that I could see where it came out.
I am sure that we all have these kinds of experiences often but we seem to forget them as soon as they are over. I am making it a point to remember them and I hope you will, too.
This song by my friend Chuck Brodsky ( sung by David LaMotte) always comes to my mind when I witness an act of kindness.
http://youtu.be/U8H0wbdxbAM
posted by Jackie Gaston
We are usually quick to grouse about the little rudenesses (is that a word?) that 'happen to us' out in the wide world...the driver who cuts us off, the shopping cart left in the middle of the isle, the slow line at the check out because the store manager did not plan well.
How often do we over look the kindnesses that come our way? I have been making an effort to notice each and every one. Despite the influx of people from all over the world into Austin, it is still hanging on to its soul somehow. It is seldom that anyone honks at another driver and that certainly is not the case in at least one other place in which I have lived. If you need to change lanes and simply put on your turn signal, sooner rather than later, someone will let you pull in front of them and into the lane you need. This happened to me the other night coming home down Mopac. It looked as though an accident had happened in the far left lane where I was. Everyone was slowing down at the sight of the flashing lights ahead. It seemed that the traffic in my lane was about to come to a screeching halt. Actually, all the traffic had just about stopped in every lane. I began giving my turn signal and a car two cars ahead of me practically stopped. The driver stuck his hand out of the window and motioned me to move in front of him. This person did not just let me over after we had both stopped. He made a special effort to let me around. I flashed my lights in thanks and got up to speed as soon as I could.
A week or two before that, I went to a shopping center to which I had only been one other time. The first time I was there, there were few people around so I parked in the middle of it in the little faux main street. This time, it was busy and I didn't even try to park there. I went around the side and pulled into a parking garage. I thought that I was on ground level with the shopping until I tried to find the way out of the garage. I did see elevators but I thought that they must go up to the residential area above the shops. I walked into what I thought was the opening into the shopping area only to find a set of stairs behind a locked gate. I had seen a man get out of his car and get into an elevator. As I came back out into the garage, he said, "Are you looking for the shops?" When I said that I was, he said for me t o get on the elevator with him and he would show me the way. It seems that I had driven up hill without realizing it and that I was now two floors above the shops. What makes this such a big kindness from my point of view is that this man got off the elevator and waited for me to come back into the garage because he had seen so many people get lost in there. He then showed me the breezeway to the shops and walked part of the way down it with me so that I could see where it came out.
I am sure that we all have these kinds of experiences often but we seem to forget them as soon as they are over. I am making it a point to remember them and I hope you will, too.
This song by my friend Chuck Brodsky ( sung by David LaMotte) always comes to my mind when I witness an act of kindness.
http://youtu.be/U8H0wbdxbAM
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