I work as a manager at a local grocery store in my town. A week ago an elderly lady called my store to say that she really needed some groceries, but didn't have any money and her vehicle had broken down. I told her I would definitely help her out. My only concern was that she lived in the worst neighborhood for crime in the town. I worried that maybe it was a set up to get mugged. You never know these days. But I realized that I just needed to put that fear aside and do the right thing. After work I bought her what she needed and delivered it to her. It was five pounds of burger, a pack of lunch meat, and some koolaid. The wind was freezing cold I remember. She answered the door in an old night gown and it almost brought tears to my eyes to see her in such fragile condition. I gladly gave her the groceries and when she offered to pay me back at some point I told her not to worry about it and she shook my hand. I remember her hand warmed me even though it was so cold outside. I also found out the next day that the other manager of our store had paid for some of her groceries before.
I'm only telling this story because of what happened less than a week later. This is the part that blows my mind. My next door neighbor Joe asked if I was interested in some burger because their deep freezer was overflowing. I gladly accepted, but when he walked over with an entire box full of meat I was stunned. He gave me thirteen packages of burger, three chuck roasts from grass fed cows, and fourteen packages of organically fed Italian and mild pork sausage. I couldn't believe it. It was as though I had hit the meat lottery and I realized then that I had the best neighbors anyone could have. I thanked him and shook his hand, once again almost tearing up. I realized at that moment that this is what life is all about. To me it was so much more than a coincidence: I brought five pounds of hamburger and lunch meat to an elderly lady and then, low and behold, less than a week later, I received around forty pounds of burger, steak, and pork.
I look at this as a testament to how amazing life can be. We should help each other not expecting them to pay us back. Sometimes the rewards for our kindness are unbelievably amazing! It's like the pay it forward plan that is encoded into existence. This doesn't mean that every time we do something nice for someone this will happen, or perhaps it will happen so far in the future that a connection can't be made. Occasionally though things like this just smack you in the face, in a good way. I encourage everyone to do something kind for someone this week, because I want this spark to ignite a bonfire of kind acts.
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