One Act of Kindness

By Sam Wolstenholm

This post has nothing to do with anything media-related. It'll be short, but I do want to tell a little story. Today (definitely not the same day I'm posting this), I went to therapy. Yea, I do that, and so should you. Anyway, I had a good session. You don't need to know what I was talking about. All you need to know is that I left the session in a weird headspace. I felt, as I often do, uneasy about the world. I had the weight of existential thoughts attempting to push me into the ground. So naturally, I went to Starbucks on my way home. I usually don't like coffee, but I will down a peppermint white chocolate mocha like it's my daily meds. When I got to the screen to order (because you can order through a screen now...I feel old), I was greeted with your typical drive-thru line. However, this person made the decision of saying her name: Carly (it might be "Karly" or "Carli" or something, I don't know). I enjoyed the personal-ness of it, so I ordered my drink by addressing her by her name. "Hi Carly, I'd like a tall peppermint white chocolate mocha please." She asked if I wanted it hot or cold, and I said hot (I don't understand the cold coffee thing, it doesn't make any sense to me). This was all routine and fairly normal. I paid, waited for a minute, then was given my coffee. The reason I'm writing this though, is because of what happened next. As Carly was handing me my drink, she said, "Hey, I like your sunglasses" with a big smile on her face. I froze for a second before thanking her and complimenting her on her glasses too (they were actually dope — big round frames), but I wouldn't normally have even thought about saying that just out of the blue. As I drove away, I found myself smiling like a fool. That was such a simple thing for her to do, but it made my whole day. It completely lifted the weight off my shoulders. I felt like flying. The point is, one act of kindness can go a really, really long way. Give a compliment, hold the door, or say "please" and "thank you" for the sake of all things good. It isn't difficult, but there are a lot of people in this world that could use some of that right about now. She has no idea what she did, but shoutout to Carly. I'll be back next Wednesday with my regular glasses on. I hope you'll like those too.