Let me tell you a story about tea...
...and kindness
When I was fourteen years old, I used to take the city bus home from the high school I attended. The bus stop was on a corner that also had a drug store with a counter where people could order sandwiches and drinks. Usually I had about a half-hour wait and would spend some time in the drug store, especially if the weather was cold or wet.
One day I decided to sit at the counter and order a hot drink, a cup of tea. The waitress brought the cup of tea that had a piece of lemon on the saucer. There was also some cream in a little pitcher. I poured some cream into the tea and then decided it would be fun to add some lemon. You know what happened, right?
The tea curdled. It was a mess to look at. I sat there not being sure what to do. I guess I had never mixed the two before. While I sat there almost on the verge of tears because clearly I couldn’t drink the tea, the waitress swooped in, removed the cup of tea, and brought me a fresh one. She smiled and told me that I can’t mix cream and lemon, that I needed to choose one or the other. I was touched by her kindness while also being embarrassed at what I had done.
Now it is many years later and I still remember how I felt when the waitress responded to me with such kindness. She didn’t chide me. She didn’t make fun of me. She didn’t remark that I should have known better. She simply smiled and brought a fresh cup of tea. Every time I remember this event, I feel warmed and grateful to that woman.
I share this as a reminder of how our acts of kindness have far-reaching effects. Not only did the woman’s kindness touch me that day, but it has touched me many days since. Sometimes we’re called to do simple things for someone else, even something simple like holding the door open at the grocery store. We have no idea how that simple act could reach into their hearts and help the person feel accepted and valued. With all the meanness we’re seeing these days, let’s step up our acts of kindness knowing they could reach far into the future and make a difference we’ll never see.
Living in grace and ease,
Krysta
Yes,yes,yes! I get that same warm fuzzy feeling every time I look at the little stuffed corderoy bear a nurse gave me when I was 6 years old and so quietly afraid. I was hospitalized for a week back in the day when parents didn't stay with you....the dark ages. Her kindness made a huge difference. I doubt if I showed much outward emotion at the time. One just never knows what simple act might make a lasting impression.♥️ I'm old enough now to have blessedly had a few people share with me the impact something I said or did that I don't even remember had on them. I try to remember this cuts both ways when I am tempted to be the antithesis . Thanks for the reminder Krysta.
Thanks for sharing that glimpse into your earlier life. It gave me the warm fuzzies, too! We just never know how much we can uplift others by what seems so simple to us.