When I decided to start this 365 Acts of Kindness project, I really thought it was going to be easy. It never occurred to me that it was going to be difficult and sometimes right down impossible to be kind to others.
Yesterday was one of those days. I was tired, overworked, and was multitasking beyond my brain capacity at work.
It was at that exact time when I was thinking there weren't enough hours in a day for me to finish everything, when this lady came to the office to request my assistance. You see, she is older and does not speak a word in English. She told me she was the victim of identity theft and she needed to fill out some papers to send back to one of the credit bureaus.
I could feel my impatience boiling in my blood, so I politely replied I could not tell her what to do because of liability to the company. Then, I asked if she didn't have a family member who could assist her. She looked at me and said "I am all alone. Since my husband passed away, I have no one."
I felt so little. Here was a hard working old lady, who came home every night to an empty apartment... and I was too busy to help her go over a few lines on a piece of paper.
I took the paper from her hand and gave her the information she needed. I also told her that she could come back if she had any doubts or questions on anything else.
I guess we all will be old one day. Hopefully, we will all be surrounded by family members and friends. But think it will depend on what kind of adult I am.
Hope is never dead
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