There seems to be a steady decline in social civility these days. It’s gotten to the point where even a smile from a stranger can make a person feel uneasy.
A few weeks ago my husband and I made an impulsive purchase at a store: We bought a TV stand and a bench. We conveniently forgot that we don’t have a truck or some large SUV to bring these items home; we have a car.
Without even thinking about how we were going to get this large (already put together) piece of furniture and a rather large, heavy box home, we had the store staff help us out to our car. When we pulled up the staff sort of giggled at us and just stared at the car perhaps wondering how they were going to get this stuff in. When they began stuffing the items into our car, I saw an older lady in a truck parked close by staring at us. I just ignored her and continued supervising the loading. I hadn’t noticed that she had pulled up right next to us and was talking to my husband.
Suddenly the staff started taking the stuff out of my car and putting it into her truck. My husband got in the car and said that she was going to follow us home. I was so furious. As I know many others would think, I, too, thought that “This lady is totally gonna take off with my stuff, or expect us to pay her!”
Why is that the first thing that would pop into most of our heads? Have we all become so cynical that we cannot believe someone would want to do something nice for another person without any ulterior motives behind it?
I admit that I am completely guilty of this social phenomenon. I was so uncomfortable the whole drive. I kept checking the rearview mirror to make sure she was still behind us.
When we finally arrived at our house, I stayed in the car, completely mortified, and upset from the whole situation while my husband unloaded our stuff. Before my husband could go back to hand her some cash and to thank her, she just smiled and waved as she drove away. I was so confused. So she wasn’t looking for some quick cash or trying to rob us? What was that? This was so foreign to me that I had to pass the story along to several people so that they too could be in wonder at this strange occurrence.
Out of the goodness of her heart with no ulterior motives, this very sweet lady not only helped us, but she helped me to try to appreciate and accept kind gestures. It’s one thing to be totally na’ve and trusting in the world, but it is clearly another to have zero trust in humanity. I can now accept that kind gestures are sometimes just that, kind gestures.