I have stated in the past at how disappointed I am in the world today.  No one is nice anymore.  No one says “please” or “thank you” or holds the door open for the other person.  Something happened today that has stayed with me all day and hopefully will for quite some time.

I had a minor accident on the Harley over the weekend and there was some minor damage done to my pride and joy.  I only take my bike to one place, Nicky D’s, so I rode it there and dropped it off this morning.  Since the shop is six miles from my house I needed to arrange for a ride home so the plan was Mom would drive to get me on her lunch break from work.  To make it easy on mom I told her to meet me at the CVS nearby but this entailed that I walk from Nicky D’s to CVS.  The distance was maybe a quarter of a mile but I was wearing long pants and it was about eighty-two degrees so by the time I got to CVS I looked like a contestant on “The Biggest Loser.”

I found a bench in front of the store, sat down and called mom.  As usual I was early and she told me she would leave work in about a half hour which translates into me sitting in the direct sun for about another forty-five minutes.

I could feel the sunlight hit me directly and make me sweat like Johnny Manziel at last call.  I knew that if a producer for “The Bachelor” walked by I would not be invited to be on the show.  I started to smell like someone who should be behind the wheel of a Yellow Cab.  Then a very strange thing happened that left me stunned and speechless.

An elderly woman, probably early eighties, stopped in front of me and said “Would you like an iced tea I just bought?”  I respectfully declined but was stunned by her offer as it was something I had not seen in such a long time:  unselfishness and kindness.  She didn’t know me.  She didn’t know what I was about yet she put that all aside and was willing to make a sacrifice for someone she didn’t even know.  Isn’t that the way we are supposed to live life on a daily basis?

I may have declined her kind offer of a drink today but what she gave me meant so much more than just a quench of thirst.  She restored my faith in mankind.