A Random Act of Kindness
Sometimes, strangers give us a helping hand, and it is only afterwards that realise the enormity of the gesture, then it is late to give thanks to the person. This story is about an act of kindness I have no way of repaying.
Many years ago, after visiting my sister in the eastern province of Canada, I had to take a few trains to go back to the Mid West of the USA where I lived. According to directions, the last train I had to take would stop in the Canadian city that borders Michigan, USA. I would then walk accross to the border control and take a bus to my home town. At the planning level, we often forget about nighttime, delays or getting lost.
I started a converstion with the barman in the train, mainly because there were only the two of us black people on the train. We talked about our home countries, him from Aruba, me from Kenya and so on, until we got to the story of my travels. It was almost 8.00 pm before we got to the station and it was getting dark, so this young man asked me if I know exactly where I was going. Being young and naive and confident, I only had a vague idea of where to go but was sure that all would be well. This person looked at me and suggested that I spend the night at his hotel suite - it came with two rooms. He said that the street I would take was not very safe, and there were no buses to Michigan after a certain hour.
After he had done his paper work, he walked me to the hotel, showed me the bed room and said goodnight. The next morning, he woke me up, bought me breakfast and walked me to the Canadian passport control office and said goodbye. Just like that.
I cannot remember his name or how he looked like. He was just your ran of the mill black man. I know we did not exchange phone numbers or even last names.
Anything could have happened to me that night. But nothing did.
All I can do is to thank God for directing my feet in his direction, and to pray for his safety and wellbeing. What else is there to do?
So this piece is dedicated to the gentleman from Aruba especially and all people who do acts of random kindness without waiting for reward or thank yous. May God bless you all.
Many years ago, after visiting my sister in the eastern province of Canada, I had to take a few trains to go back to the Mid West of the USA where I lived. According to directions, the last train I had to take would stop in the Canadian city that borders Michigan, USA. I would then walk accross to the border control and take a bus to my home town. At the planning level, we often forget about nighttime, delays or getting lost.
I started a converstion with the barman in the train, mainly because there were only the two of us black people on the train. We talked about our home countries, him from Aruba, me from Kenya and so on, until we got to the story of my travels. It was almost 8.00 pm before we got to the station and it was getting dark, so this young man asked me if I know exactly where I was going. Being young and naive and confident, I only had a vague idea of where to go but was sure that all would be well. This person looked at me and suggested that I spend the night at his hotel suite - it came with two rooms. He said that the street I would take was not very safe, and there were no buses to Michigan after a certain hour.
After he had done his paper work, he walked me to the hotel, showed me the bed room and said goodnight. The next morning, he woke me up, bought me breakfast and walked me to the Canadian passport control office and said goodbye. Just like that.
I cannot remember his name or how he looked like. He was just your ran of the mill black man. I know we did not exchange phone numbers or even last names.
Anything could have happened to me that night. But nothing did.
All I can do is to thank God for directing my feet in his direction, and to pray for his safety and wellbeing. What else is there to do?
So this piece is dedicated to the gentleman from Aruba especially and all people who do acts of random kindness without waiting for reward or thank yous. May God bless you all.
posted by Uaridi at 9/06/2005 02:06:00 pm
10 Comments:
This is a great story, Uaridi and makes me stop despairing about the human race:)
it also shows that u were worthy of divine help from above..considering most of us could care less of making conversations with strangers.
there are good people out there that i do believe and its nice of you to give them a tribute
What a lovely story. The warmth and connection is beautiful!
I agree with Mshairi, people some times are more often than not kind to strangers.
I second Aunty Mshairi on this story making me too stop desparing about the human race...
I am sure wherever that man is God has repaid him for that act of kindness many times over, and i hope too that HE is doing you good deeds.
As always the debate rages, on whether human are innately good or bad.
I firmly believe and your lovely experience attests to it, that there are good people and angels in existence.
And inasmuch as we are taught to be wary of strangers and all facts show that someone who knows you is more likely to harm you than one who has never set eyes on you before. Well... except the bombers and all...and that was the hand of hte higher power at work.
Thank you all for the comments. I pray that you will all meet an angel when you need one desperately - just like I did. Good people really do exist - we need to keep an eye open for them
Here comes the other side, sometimes I can be so mean and nasty that when someone does or say something terrible to me. I sit there and wish that when this human dies that it will be a long and miserable death. As Mshairi says three quarters of my time is spent despairing of the human race and then the other quarter is spent reading such nice and sweet wonderful blogs!!!!
Nyaks, I suppose on my side is that I expect and hope that people will be good, and am surprised when they are bad. May God send you an angel in human form when you need one so that you can see the plus side of life
to the angel form aruba. good deeds never go unrepaid.
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