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Paperwork: Kindness to strangers is not a big deal ... unless you’re the stranger · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Paperwork. Kindness to strangers is not a big deal unless
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  you're the stranger. Written by Lonnie Kane, This article is
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  being read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlet.
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  I was filling up the truck tank for the drive
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  home when I saw him. A young woman at the
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  gas pump ahead of me was doing the same. When
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  I heard her say to him, I don't have any cash,
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  he immediately turned and walked away past the other pumps.
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  I quickly focused on my tank head down and wondered
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  if he would ask me for money. He didn't. I
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  was relieved. I'm not sure why. I wasn't ashamed until
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  a short while later. I watched the pump rapidly tally
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  the rising cost of fuel, but I wasn't moaning. I
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  had cash in my wallet. I could have given that
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  man a few bucks, but he had moved. It was
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  early morning. We were leaving Denver after spending several days
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  with two of our sons. A long drive was ahead.
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  We also needed to fuel ourselves, and next door was
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  a McDonald's. I pulled in and my wife went in
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  to get those egg muffin things and much needed coffee.
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  I was wondering about the weight when I saw her
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  heading our way, food in a bag, which she handed
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  to me as she climbed into the truck with a
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  story to tell. Now I need to do something I
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  have avoided in the past. I think it's time I
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  introduce her as more than the wife. This is the
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  perfect moment for you to meet Cindy, since she is
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  an important part of this story. I'm transferring coffee into
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  a travel mug. When Cindy tells me what just happened,
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  I could tell it was important. She was trying not
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  to cry for her, that's difficult. Her story went something
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  like this. Cindy was ordering our breakfast when a man
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  behind her asked if she had any cash to spare.
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  She said no. Then he asked if she would buy
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  him a breakfast burrito. She did, with one regret, I
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  should have bought him a coffee also, she kept saying.
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  During our drive. Cindy said it wasn't a feel good moment.
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  She was overcome with sadness, Sad that the man had
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  to beg for food, Sad that she didn't do more,
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  sad that this man probably did this every day. Asked
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  for help. I knew right away. The man she helped
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  was likely the same man I saw at the gas
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  station moments earlier. He needed money for food. I said
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  earlier that he was begging, but was he is asking
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  for help the same as begging. There are many who
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  warn't against giving money away because it might be used
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  to feed a habit such as drugs or alcohol, and
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  that would be bad because drugs and booze are bad.
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  Unless you have money, then not so much. But this
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  man did want money to support a habit that we
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  call eating. I'm not sure what I would have done
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  if the guy had asked for cash while I was
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  filling my gas tank. I think I would have given
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  him some, Yet part of me was glad he did
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  not ask. If he had tapped on the truck window
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  to ask my wife, I suspect she would have pointed
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  to me. The story could end there, but there's more
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  to sweeten the hours of driving. We tune into podcasts,
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  So a few hours later we're listening to Hidden Brain
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  by shankra Vedantam, which airs on NPR, and the program
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  A Secret Source of Connection was all about people helping others.
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  Studies have uncovered what is called the pro sociality paradox.
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  That means we downplay what we do for others, thinking
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  it's no big deal. At the same time, we don't
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  realize how much others appreciate acts of kindness, and kindness
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  is contagious. Pay it Forward works. The discussion was fascinating
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  and can easily be found online. It comes down to
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  a quick lesson about giving. When you're helping someone, don't
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  think about the task or if you can do it correctly.
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  It's not about how much you can or cannot do.
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  Think about how much the other person will appreciate the
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  simple fact that you helped. That is what they remember
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  and never forget. And then imagine that other person you're
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  helping is you, even if your choice would not be
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  the breakfast burrito. Lonnie Kane, retired managing editor of The
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  Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for the Herald
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  News in Joliet in the nineteen seventies. His paperwork email
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  is Lonniejcine at gmail dot com or mail the News
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  Tribune for twenty six Second Street, LaSalle, Illinois, sixty one
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  three zero one