The Kindness Chronicles
How did it get to be August already? I missed the beginning of the month and so I am late in posting my Kindness Chronicles.
I had the opportunity of traveling to DC with my oldest daughter, mother-in-law and brother-in-law for 5 days to look for an apartment for my daughter whilst bil was in meetings. It is amazing how many kindnesses you can observe while traveling:
There was the TSA officer who was bright and cheery. Perhaps it was the beginning of her shift but no matter the reason it was a kindness to everyone who had stood in a very long line waiting their turn to arrive to a cheerful face who asked how their day was going.
There was the man who was willing to trade seats with my mil so that she did not have to sit by herself.
There was the group of wait listed passengers who had been waiting so long they'd become friends and cheered for each other as they were able to get on the flight, some of them into first class!
There was the man who noticed that a woman dropped her phone and he went out of his way to call it to her attention and take her back to where she had dropped it.
There was the group of people who went out of their way to help a man pick up all the change he had dropped all over the floor. (I can remember a time when people would have picked it up and walked off with it. Yay for honest people!!!)
There was the driver of the carts in the airport who had no where to be so he stopped to drive an old woman and her pretty daughter. Okay, I'm not that old, but I know the pretty daughter is probably the reason he stopped. ;) Later when we were walking to find a place to eat he offered us another ride but we sent him on his way.
There was the man who carefully watched as a woman struggled to take put her luggage into the luggage rack on the plane. He didn't step in immediately because he didn't want to insult her by assuming she couldn't do it. He waited and watched and offered his services at just the right time.
There were the patient passengers who each took their turn getting off the plane.
There were the numerous drivers who didn't honk at the out of town driver who didn't know which way she was going.
There was the shuttle driver at Mount Vernon who jammed as many passengers onto her shuttle as she could because she knew it was too hot and humid outside to walk back up the hill. There were many grateful passengers and everyone on the bus was grateful even if they had to stand close to one another.
The people at Johnny Rockets who were trying to clean up just before closing time who were kind and let us come in so that my mil could get the strawberry shake she had been craving all day. We offered to take the shakes to go but they told us to go ahead and sit and enjoy. So wonderful after a hot day!
My mil for her enduring patience as we drove up and down and up and down street after street looking for for rent signs or an address we couldn't quite find. We often found her asleep in the back and were grateful she didn't complain about all the driving!
My daughter for taking photos of people almost everywhere we visited. She must have the kindest face of everyone around because every where we went people asked her if she would take their photo and she did it cheerfully.
My bil for paying for our airline tickets and hotel room so that we could go to DC and find my daughter an apartment to live in while she goes to graduate school over the next two years.
And finally there was my husband who first of all held up the home fort while I was gone and second was willing to go to the airport twice in one night. The first time was to take our younger daughter and put her on a plane to visit my sister in San Francisco and then wait for his brother and mother to come in on their flight. The second time was a few hours later (long after his bedtime) to get me and our daughter from our later flight. We were fortunate enough to let ourselves be bumped off of our flight and receive certificates for two more flights later on. This was a huge blessing for my daughter so that she can now come home for the holidays for free! (We are convinced we made the list because the person at the desk wanted to help us out. Thank you!!!)
Life is so much better when you look for the kindnesses in the world!
There was the man who was willing to trade seats with my mil so that she did not have to sit by herself.
There was the group of wait listed passengers who had been waiting so long they'd become friends and cheered for each other as they were able to get on the flight, some of them into first class!
There was the man who noticed that a woman dropped her phone and he went out of his way to call it to her attention and take her back to where she had dropped it.
There was the group of people who went out of their way to help a man pick up all the change he had dropped all over the floor. (I can remember a time when people would have picked it up and walked off with it. Yay for honest people!!!)
There was the driver of the carts in the airport who had no where to be so he stopped to drive an old woman and her pretty daughter. Okay, I'm not that old, but I know the pretty daughter is probably the reason he stopped. ;) Later when we were walking to find a place to eat he offered us another ride but we sent him on his way.
There was the man who carefully watched as a woman struggled to take put her luggage into the luggage rack on the plane. He didn't step in immediately because he didn't want to insult her by assuming she couldn't do it. He waited and watched and offered his services at just the right time.
There were the patient passengers who each took their turn getting off the plane.
There were the numerous drivers who didn't honk at the out of town driver who didn't know which way she was going.
There was the shuttle driver at Mount Vernon who jammed as many passengers onto her shuttle as she could because she knew it was too hot and humid outside to walk back up the hill. There were many grateful passengers and everyone on the bus was grateful even if they had to stand close to one another.
The people at Johnny Rockets who were trying to clean up just before closing time who were kind and let us come in so that my mil could get the strawberry shake she had been craving all day. We offered to take the shakes to go but they told us to go ahead and sit and enjoy. So wonderful after a hot day!
My mil for her enduring patience as we drove up and down and up and down street after street looking for for rent signs or an address we couldn't quite find. We often found her asleep in the back and were grateful she didn't complain about all the driving!
My daughter for taking photos of people almost everywhere we visited. She must have the kindest face of everyone around because every where we went people asked her if she would take their photo and she did it cheerfully.
My bil for paying for our airline tickets and hotel room so that we could go to DC and find my daughter an apartment to live in while she goes to graduate school over the next two years.
And finally there was my husband who first of all held up the home fort while I was gone and second was willing to go to the airport twice in one night. The first time was to take our younger daughter and put her on a plane to visit my sister in San Francisco and then wait for his brother and mother to come in on their flight. The second time was a few hours later (long after his bedtime) to get me and our daughter from our later flight. We were fortunate enough to let ourselves be bumped off of our flight and receive certificates for two more flights later on. This was a huge blessing for my daughter so that she can now come home for the holidays for free! (We are convinced we made the list because the person at the desk wanted to help us out. Thank you!!!)
Life is so much better when you look for the kindnesses in the world!
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