Yesterday I witnessed a random act of kindness that was small but humbling. I was sitting at a meeting and the man in front of me, off to my right, was struggling to drink from his can of Coke. It seems he had opened it and the tab did not fully open the can. He kept trying to turn the can in a different direction, over and over again to drink, but the opening was still tiny. This man is older and suffers from some sort of neurological disorder, perhaps dementia. I watched him for a minute or two and then my attention switched elsewhere.
A few minutes later, I was aware of two ladies beside me, moving. One handed the other a dollar bill and the one with the money left for a moment. Shortly, she returned with an unopened can of Coke. She gently removed the coozie from the man in front of me, with the Coke in it. Out went the old can, in went the new, fresh, cold one and she opened it for him. Silently, she slid it back between his hands, smiled kindly at him, and sat down beside me. I'm not sure the man even realized what had happened--he was just thrilled to have a Coke he could drink.
Then wham.....it hit me. I could have done that, but it never occurred to me. All I could do was thank the two ladies beside me for setting such an example of kindness and service to someone else. Wow. Sometimes it's just the small stuff that really teaches the lesson.
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