Kindness is Not Random

This afternoon I witnessed something so simple and good that it almost didn't register.

I was waiting in line at a fast-food drive-through and saw a man going through the trash on the restaurant's patio looking through the discarded bags. Just as I realized what the man was doing, a well-dressed woman opened the door and asked the man if he was hungry.

'Would you like something to eat?' she asked. The man nodded mutely.

I've bought many a meal for panhandlers who have asked me for money for food. I started doing this almost 20 years ago after my father told that no one had EVER taken him up on that offer. I think I just wanted to point out that some people who say they want money for food really are hungry. Plus it just pisses me off that so many people go without food in the richest country in the world.

When I pulled up to the restaurant's plate-glass window I caught the woman's eye and mouthed a thank you. She smiled and waved, probably without having any idea what I was saying. But I just wanted her to know how much I appreciated her effort to salvage what she could of that man's dignity. We should all be so kind.