A Good Deed is Worth Noting
My husband told me an amazing story the other day, a story that is worth telling again. For those of you who have been feeling down lately, uncertain about what the future brings, and discontent with the human race in general, this may change your feelings.
A week ago my husband was standing in line with a colleague at a coffee shop one afternoon. The gentleman in front of him turned around and asked my husband if he was planning on paying for his coffee with cash or was he going to charge it. An odd question, in the least, but my husband being the thinker that he is inquired about why the man wanted to know my husband's paying habits. The man responded, "Well, I need 4 bucks to pay the toll to cross the bridge and I only have $2. I was hoping that I could buy your coffee in exchange for $2 cash, so I don't have to drive across town to the bank to get more money."
My husband responded that indeed, he had planned on paying for his coffee with his credit card. I'm sure the other man thought that the exchange was over, but instead, my husband pulled out of his wallet his only money, which incidentally, happened to be $2, and gave it to the man. "Here, you can have it," my husband said as he handed the man the money. The man thanked him and said he would buy my husband a coffee, but my husband refused. He said to the man, "Just take it, I want you to have it." And that was it. Without any expectation for anything more, my husband just forked over 2 bucks. It's not like that is a lot of money, but it was the gesture he made to the other man that really moved me...that the other man was saved from having to drive across town to his bank, that my husband perhaps had lightened another person's load for just an instant, and that my husband did it selflessly.
When he told me the story I teared up at the simplicity and beauty that kindness bestows upon the giver and taker, and that in the wake of all the negative things we hear about on a daily basis, there was this one little ray of light. And I know it was, because my husband remarked about how all the people around him suddenly had smiles on their faces.
But wait, the story gets better! After purchasing his coffee, my husband and his colleague sat down to chat. They had not been sitting for very long when the gentleman approached them and handed my husband a card. "What's this?" my husband asked.
"It's a little thank you....a $10 gift card for the next time you get coffee," the man responded.
"You really didn't have to do this, but I appreciate it," my husband remarked.
"I know, but you didn't have to give me the $2, either. Thanks." And then the man was gone. Now it was my husband's turn to grin from ear to ear for his faith in humanity had been restored...even for just another day, a moment, an instant. Selflessness at its best.
A week ago my husband was standing in line with a colleague at a coffee shop one afternoon. The gentleman in front of him turned around and asked my husband if he was planning on paying for his coffee with cash or was he going to charge it. An odd question, in the least, but my husband being the thinker that he is inquired about why the man wanted to know my husband's paying habits. The man responded, "Well, I need 4 bucks to pay the toll to cross the bridge and I only have $2. I was hoping that I could buy your coffee in exchange for $2 cash, so I don't have to drive across town to the bank to get more money."
My husband responded that indeed, he had planned on paying for his coffee with his credit card. I'm sure the other man thought that the exchange was over, but instead, my husband pulled out of his wallet his only money, which incidentally, happened to be $2, and gave it to the man. "Here, you can have it," my husband said as he handed the man the money. The man thanked him and said he would buy my husband a coffee, but my husband refused. He said to the man, "Just take it, I want you to have it." And that was it. Without any expectation for anything more, my husband just forked over 2 bucks. It's not like that is a lot of money, but it was the gesture he made to the other man that really moved me...that the other man was saved from having to drive across town to his bank, that my husband perhaps had lightened another person's load for just an instant, and that my husband did it selflessly.
When he told me the story I teared up at the simplicity and beauty that kindness bestows upon the giver and taker, and that in the wake of all the negative things we hear about on a daily basis, there was this one little ray of light. And I know it was, because my husband remarked about how all the people around him suddenly had smiles on their faces.
But wait, the story gets better! After purchasing his coffee, my husband and his colleague sat down to chat. They had not been sitting for very long when the gentleman approached them and handed my husband a card. "What's this?" my husband asked.
"It's a little thank you....a $10 gift card for the next time you get coffee," the man responded.
"You really didn't have to do this, but I appreciate it," my husband remarked.
"I know, but you didn't have to give me the $2, either. Thanks." And then the man was gone. Now it was my husband's turn to grin from ear to ear for his faith in humanity had been restored...even for just another day, a moment, an instant. Selflessness at its best.
posted by The Well-Rounded Child at
10:16 PM
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