On Monday I was outside helping to bring the shopping carts back into the grocery store where I am employed, and I encountered a damsel in distress, looking frustrated, standing by her Mercedes Benz. She had locked herself out of her car, leaving her car key and her cell phone in it.
I reached out to her with my hippy dippy Scott-ness, asking if she could use a hug. She replied tentatively that she would rather borrow my cell phone.
“Of course!” I replied with enthusiasm that was a gust of relief for her.
She suddenly felt less alone in her challenge.
Promptly my new friend got busy trying to get the fine folks at Mercedes to send someone over to rescue her. (She was not a member of AAA.) Alas, they were not available for rescue missions.
She then continued on her quest to find help, using my cell phone to explore the internet and make calls. Two hours later a professional handyman was working on getting the window down and jiggling her lock till the car was open.
She was gushing with gratitude as she returned my phone.
What a high it was to go the extra mile with generosity and kindness. It made my day, and her thankfulness was icing on the cake.
One hour later….
I was beginning my lunch break, on a line to buy some food and a few groceries. When it was my turn to pay, the person ahead of me, a perfect stranger, turned around and said, “I would like to pay for you.”
Wow.
Before I had a chance to resist, he put his charge card into the machine, paid my bill, and quickly turned away, leaving me in shock.
Whoa!
I managed to sputter out two simple words before he disappeared: “Thank you.”
My head was reeling. My heart was opening.
One hour karma.
Offering kindness is its own reward, and doesn’t always return to us so dramatically and quickly, but what goes around does come around.
It’s the law. No exceptions. And we are learning to be universal law abiding citizens.
Kindness to yourself and others is the best. What would life be like without it?
