In this era of lightning fast doom and gloom news and social media tirades, the beautiful side of humanity is often drowned out and shoved to the back. We forget to pause and remember the little things, the tiny gestures that restore our faith in humanity.
Kindness matters.
If I ever ran for president, this would be my platform.
“Teacher, I have the wrong coins.”
Let’s rewind this a bit…okay, a lot. Let’s go all the way back to grade school. I was 5 or 6 years old, and my family was extremely poor. I remember the powdered milk that came in boxes and getting hand-me-downs from some of the other children in Sunday school. We even qualified for discounted school lunches at 40 cents.
Young me knew what three coins I had to bring: a big one, a small one, and a tiny one (a quarter, nickel, and dime). One morning, I only had the tiny and small one. I put them in my pocket and worried all morning about not having the big one. The teacher had us line up for lunch, after which, she’d lead us out of the classroom and into the cafeteria.
My nerves nagged at my senses, and I thought for sure the lunch lady was going to send me right to detention without lunch for not having the big coin. I panicked and shuffled my feet to the end of the line. The teacher noticed that I looked upset and asked what was wrong.
“Teacher, I have the wrong coins!” I wailed. I produced the dime and nickel, showing them to her in my tiny, trembling palm. “I need a big one and I don’t have a big one!”
“It’s okay,” she said in a soft voice. She started digging in her large purse. “Here you go,” she smiled, placing a quarter into my hand. Relief washed over me as I stared at the three coins.
…
This is one of those memories that has always stayed with me. That teacher made sure that I would not go hungry that day, and I’ll never forget that moment of kindness when she placed the quarter into my open palm. They wouldn’t have given me detention for something like that, but when you’re a little kid at school, EvErYtHiNg is scary enough for detention!
It’s gestures like this that should be spread all over social media. It’s moments like this that restore my faith in humanity.
Do you have a memory that you’ll forever hold onto because someone was kind to you?
Be kind out there,
~mlc
