Thank you for this gracious reminder about generosity!
Also - consider those who deliver your mail and who take away your trash and recycling - often they are the same people serving us each day or week.
And small-ish acts of kindness are important, too. I was recently in a Post Office. The only customer ahead of me finished up and left. As the clerk started to help me, by weighing my single large envelope, I realized she was also shouting into her phone, recounting to someone the difficulty her husband was having that day in picking up a prescription his pharmacy had apparently lost (and which, obviously, was something greatly needed). “He’s been there three times already,” she kept repeating.
For a few seconds, I was irritated - yet another “customer service” person paying more attention to their own life and interests than to me, the object of their job. The teens and 20-somethings at the supermarket registers, the bored clerks at stores, the distracted fast-food workers (all examples from my past two weeks!), all surreptitiously checking their phones with me being an afterthought and, ironically, a distraction to *them*.
But this post office clerk was unintentionally sharing a more human need - not looking for the quick hit of entertainment or friend’s gossip as the others were, but trying (albeit a bit inappropriately) to run a household and a post office at the same time. And who knows - maybe the medication she and her husband were seeking was for something covid-related, the scourge that has broken so much of the world’s routines.
Anyway, in the few seconds (literally) I was there, watching my envelope being weighed and stickered, paying easily and silently with my card, my irritation transformed into solidarity. As I left, with her still on the phone, I leaned closer and whispered, “Good luck”. And received a grim smile and a thumbs-up in return.
Such a beautiful, thoughtful post, Stella. I appreciate and deeply value the reminder to be kind - thank you for putting generosity at the front of my mind. 😘
A timely reminder. Thanks so much. (And wow to that incredible gluten-free sourdough. Not in Australia unfortunately, but something to watch out for.) Hugs dear Stella.
I’m so glad you shared this, Stella! “While these small acts didn’t solve the hunger crisis, brightening someone’s day even for a brief moment was worthwhile.” And yet, imagine if everyone, or even just most people, had this very simple shift in perspective like you did...It would go a long way toward solving that hunger crisis - as well as crises of loneliness, hopelessness, and alienation as well - after all.
Thank you for this gracious reminder about generosity!
Also - consider those who deliver your mail and who take away your trash and recycling - often they are the same people serving us each day or week.
And small-ish acts of kindness are important, too. I was recently in a Post Office. The only customer ahead of me finished up and left. As the clerk started to help me, by weighing my single large envelope, I realized she was also shouting into her phone, recounting to someone the difficulty her husband was having that day in picking up a prescription his pharmacy had apparently lost (and which, obviously, was something greatly needed). “He’s been there three times already,” she kept repeating.
For a few seconds, I was irritated - yet another “customer service” person paying more attention to their own life and interests than to me, the object of their job. The teens and 20-somethings at the supermarket registers, the bored clerks at stores, the distracted fast-food workers (all examples from my past two weeks!), all surreptitiously checking their phones with me being an afterthought and, ironically, a distraction to *them*.
But this post office clerk was unintentionally sharing a more human need - not looking for the quick hit of entertainment or friend’s gossip as the others were, but trying (albeit a bit inappropriately) to run a household and a post office at the same time. And who knows - maybe the medication she and her husband were seeking was for something covid-related, the scourge that has broken so much of the world’s routines.
Anyway, in the few seconds (literally) I was there, watching my envelope being weighed and stickered, paying easily and silently with my card, my irritation transformed into solidarity. As I left, with her still on the phone, I leaned closer and whispered, “Good luck”. And received a grim smile and a thumbs-up in return.
We’ve all been *there*, haven’t we?
Such a beautiful, thoughtful post, Stella. I appreciate and deeply value the reminder to be kind - thank you for putting generosity at the front of my mind. 😘
Beautiful sentiment about all that we can do with what we already have to share.
A very good reminder for us all. Thank you for the nudge.
A timely reminder. Thanks so much. (And wow to that incredible gluten-free sourdough. Not in Australia unfortunately, but something to watch out for.) Hugs dear Stella.
I’m so glad you shared this, Stella! “While these small acts didn’t solve the hunger crisis, brightening someone’s day even for a brief moment was worthwhile.” And yet, imagine if everyone, or even just most people, had this very simple shift in perspective like you did...It would go a long way toward solving that hunger crisis - as well as crises of loneliness, hopelessness, and alienation as well - after all.
Thank you for your the restack @Jason McBride