When’s the last time you performed a random act of kindness? Helped someone fix a flat tire, paid for a stranger’s coffee, offered to help an elderly neighbor with some chores?
I’ve been heartened to see some stories of Good Samaritans in the news lately. In one case, a Texas waitress was photographed cutting up a 78-year-old diner’s ham dinner because he told her that his hands were weak and unsteady. Another diner noticed, photographed the kind act, and it went viral. The waitress, who is a teen high school graduate who had been saving up for college, was rewarded with a college scholarship and a day named in her honor. She still maintains that she was just doing her job.
In my home state of Georgia, meanwhile, a man was filmed stopping traffic and leaving his pick-up truck to aid an elderly man who was slowly trying to cross the road with a walker.
These are all ordinary actions that are being hailed as heroic because they’re so rare, it seems. Modern society often lets civility slip, but these two generous acts prove that when we step up and help our common man, great things happen. I’m inspired!