Strangers Rock with Kindness
Posted on December 17th, 2008 by Cynthia D'Amour
He didn’t want his photo taken.
- He was a shy man.
- Maybe 25 years old.
- Talked like he was much younger.
Yesterday afternoon the phone rang.
- James was out.
- It was telemarketer time.
- I debated whether or not to answer it.
“I have your cell phone.”
- I didn’t understand what he was saying.
- And made him repeat a few times.
Caller ID showed James’ cell number.
- James couldn’t find his phone before he left for his meeting.
- The caller was at the main intersection not too far from our house.
We agree to meet so I could get the phone from him.
- He described his coat.
- I told him about my hair.
- He met me when I pulled in the gas station.
“I was worried you might need your phone.”
- He had found it walking.
- Gone home.
- Decided to go back out in 18 degree weather to find me.
I shook his hand.
- He was surprised when I gave him a thank you gift.
- He wanted to shake my hand again.
- I almost gave him a hug - but didn’t want to scare him.
As I pulled out, I checked the phone’s call log.
- The only call he made was one to me.
- He wanted to make sure I had my important numbers.
- He reminded me of the potential kindness of strangers.
Makes me think of chapter leaders…At some point, all members were strangers. Have you helped a stranger lately?
Filed under: Recruiting New Members
Really nice. We should all follow his example.
Reminds me of a time I left my purse–Coach–on the back of a chair on the way home from vacation. All my credit cards, cash, etc–and of course the purse itself had cost a mint. Called the restaurant; they didn’t have it. I figured that was it and started calling to cancel my credit cards.
Then we got a phone call–my planner inside the purse had my number. A family had found it and brought it home because they didn’t want to leave it for someone else to take. We went to their house to pick it up, and they insisted I look through it to see nothing was missing–nothing was. They flat-out refused to take the reward I wanted to give them, even though it was obvious from the neighborhood and apartment they lived in they could have used the money.
That was over 10 years ago and I still remember it, and hope the good karma has helped them out in some way.
So right David.
Thanks for sharing your story Maggie. With everything going on with the economy and fallout, I think sharing stories like this is a great reminder of all we can be!