Rene Gutteridge is a dear friend and my co-author for our Just 18 Summers novel. I recently ran across this post she wrote about an amazing act of kindness and asked her if I could share it with you . . .
The other day I was walking into the bank at the same time as a man who looked very much homeless. He had a bucket full of coins. As I did my business at the bank, I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on his conversation with the other teller. He wanted to get his coins counted and turned into cash, but he didn’t have an account. He was hoping not to have to pay a big fee.
I thought, oh boy, this is not going to be pretty. To my surprise, the teller said he would gladly do that with the fee waived. Then he said, “Would you be interested in opening an account today?”
By this time I was just flat out staring because I wanted to know how a homeless guy was going to answer that. Humbly, he looked down and said, “Well, I probably don’t have enough.”
“How much do you have?”
“Maybe ten dollars.”
At this point I saw the bank manager walk over. I assumed he was going to relay the information that he definitely didn’t have enough, but thanks for coming in. Instead, with the brightest smile I’d seen in a while, she said, “Come over here, and let’s take a look at how we can set you up.”
He looked nervous . . . why was everybody being so nice to him? I was nervous for him. He obliged but said, “I’ve got to have five dollars, so that’s only five dollars left.”
“That’s fine,” she said. “We’ll go ahead and deposit the ten, then you can withdraw five. I’ll just waive the low balance requirement for your account.”
He looked stunned. I felt stunned. She was talking to him like he was an important businessman with thousands of dollars to deposit. It was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen.
She continued, “And if you’ll continue to bring in your change, we’ll keep your money safe and you can keep saving a little here and a little there. You can come get it anytime you want. But you don’t have to worry about it being stolen.”
He looked so surprised and happy and immediately began filling out the paperwork.
I left the bank, got in my car, and drove home with a lump in my throat at the pure kindness I’d witnessed. But soon I became sad, because I realized that kindness is so rare in this society that when somebody treats another person with dignity and respect, it stirs deep emotion . . . it’s now the exception and not the rule.
How can you show kindness to someone today?
