Language of kindness

Having a flat tyre is no fun for anyone like me, ignorant of the mechanics of a vehicle.

Intolerance; indifference; aggression; hostility… Well, if you think I’m trying to list the synonymous for apathy, that is not my intent. I’m attempting to highlight the fact that currently our world seems to be wrongly portrayed as bursting at the seams with these sentiments. And, that is why I have chosen to devote this ‘middle’ solely to focus on all the random acts of kindness I experienced in the last few weeks.

Running late for an appointment and with an empty purse, I had to stop at the ATM on my way to withdraw some money. The gentleman ahead of me in the queue, sensing my urgency, volunteered and offered to step back, permitting me to go in before him. Relieved and grateful for his empathy, I finished my job at the ATM sooner than the circumstance could permit me and ran along. 

Having a flat tyre is no fun for anyone, more so for a woman like me completely ignorant about the mechanics of a vehicle. So, when I had a flat tyre and had to pull over to the side of a busy road and adjacent to the police station of the locality, two kind souls — the staff of the police station, I later reckoned — came to my aid. In no time they pulled out the stepney from the boot and laboured for a while enduring the sweat trickling down their faces, to replace the punctured tyre. 

Heading to the post office close to my home early one morning to mail a parcel, I was aghast to see a long queue in progress. Regretting my lack of foresight in not get any reading material to pass the time at the queue, which by Murphy’s Law, I was sure would move at a snail’s pace, I joined the queue in irritation. Little did I know that I was about to have a tête–à–tête with kindness.

Seeing the parcel in my hand and, perhaps, the annoyance on my face as well, a kindly person informed me that there was an additional shorter queue on another side of the premises for parcel-related services. Taking to the tip, I joined that file immediately and my work was accomplished quite quickly. Thanking the gentleman for the timely help, I returned home with an overwhelming feeling that surges when treated kindly by others.

These are just a few instances where strangers addressed me in the language of kindness. Why not we spread the word around about this delightful language? After all, kindness is the language that even the deaf can hear, the blind can see and an ordinary woman, like me, made to feel extra-ordinary!