"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."
-Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC), The Lion and the Mouse.
I had a terrible day Wednesday, April 22nd. One of the absolute worst days in a very long time. I was yelled at by a coworker, out in the open, in front of everyone. It was humiliating, and infuriating. And what she yelled at me was not even true and had no basis. As much as I tried to continue working after that, I could not. I had to get up and leave my office.
I went outside into the alley and tried to control myself and prayed that my red, teary eyes would go away quickly enough that I could go back to work. (For those who don't know, the alleys downtown are not really alleys, they are more like small streets, they just happen to be behind the buildings.) I was out there for an hour. In that hour, I got so many glances and stares, but only a few stopped to ask if I was okay.
At one point, I noticed a woman walking toward me, one of the many who had in the forty-five minutes I had been there. As she came towards me, I buried my head in my coat, hoping that like the others she would just glance at me and keep moving.
But she did not. She did glance at me, yes, but she stopped, asked if I was okay, and kneeled down beside me. I had said I was fine, but clearly I was not. She leaned in and and wrapped one of her arms around me in a hug. That was my undoing. I just broke down. I started crying in her arms.
I quickly pulled myself together, and thanked her. She proceeded to ask me if I wanted to pray, to which I kindly responded no after thinking that not only would we be praying to different G-d's, but that she probably expected me to cross myself. I had a quick flash of what would happen if I had accepted her offer to pray with me, and I didn't want to have to explain why I do not cross myself on top of everything else that had happened. She asked if I was sure; I said yes. She reached into her purse, pulled out a wad of tissues, and handed it to me telling me that I should at least have them. I thanked her, and as she got up, she said to me, "I'll be praying for you," and continued on.
I was shocked. A complete stranger, who had no idea who I was, was willing to, and did, offer me comfort and help. And you know what? It was a comfort, and it did help. It showed me that while I may have worked with some real jerks (and that's putting it nicely), that there are still people out there who are not, who are willing to help a person in need, a person they do not know at all. She gave me a glimmer of hope, that maybe, just maybe, people were not all that bad. I'm just sorry it took a complete stranger to help me realize this.
-Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC), The Lion and the Mouse.
I had a terrible day Wednesday, April 22nd. One of the absolute worst days in a very long time. I was yelled at by a coworker, out in the open, in front of everyone. It was humiliating, and infuriating. And what she yelled at me was not even true and had no basis. As much as I tried to continue working after that, I could not. I had to get up and leave my office.
I went outside into the alley and tried to control myself and prayed that my red, teary eyes would go away quickly enough that I could go back to work. (For those who don't know, the alleys downtown are not really alleys, they are more like small streets, they just happen to be behind the buildings.) I was out there for an hour. In that hour, I got so many glances and stares, but only a few stopped to ask if I was okay.
At one point, I noticed a woman walking toward me, one of the many who had in the forty-five minutes I had been there. As she came towards me, I buried my head in my coat, hoping that like the others she would just glance at me and keep moving.
But she did not. She did glance at me, yes, but she stopped, asked if I was okay, and kneeled down beside me. I had said I was fine, but clearly I was not. She leaned in and and wrapped one of her arms around me in a hug. That was my undoing. I just broke down. I started crying in her arms.
I quickly pulled myself together, and thanked her. She proceeded to ask me if I wanted to pray, to which I kindly responded no after thinking that not only would we be praying to different G-d's, but that she probably expected me to cross myself. I had a quick flash of what would happen if I had accepted her offer to pray with me, and I didn't want to have to explain why I do not cross myself on top of everything else that had happened. She asked if I was sure; I said yes. She reached into her purse, pulled out a wad of tissues, and handed it to me telling me that I should at least have them. I thanked her, and as she got up, she said to me, "I'll be praying for you," and continued on.
I was shocked. A complete stranger, who had no idea who I was, was willing to, and did, offer me comfort and help. And you know what? It was a comfort, and it did help. It showed me that while I may have worked with some real jerks (and that's putting it nicely), that there are still people out there who are not, who are willing to help a person in need, a person they do not know at all. She gave me a glimmer of hope, that maybe, just maybe, people were not all that bad. I'm just sorry it took a complete stranger to help me realize this.
