Unexpected Kindness Turned a Rough Day Into a Joy

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“Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.” — Roy T. Bennett

Ever notice how sometimes, the littlest thing makes the biggest difference? I’ve even seen it when doing a painting and discovering that a small dab of a bright colour just there can shift the focus and energy of the entire piece. I don’t really get how that works but it does!

I was just thinking about a time when I was having one of “those” days. Forget having a Murphy moment. It was an “I think Murphy moved in” sorta day, you know what I mean? He had firmly planted himself in it almost as soon as I got out of bed, and every time I thought I’d moved past his next little prank, sneaky pinhead that he is, he created another.

I had to get out of my home, catch my breath, have a change of scene — whatever. I just needed to leave. I walked rather briskly for a while, burning off some frustration and eventually found myself at a nearby bakery, eyeing the pastries (especially the profiteroles! Choux pastry and whipped cream with a drizzle of chocolate?? I’ll take 47, please!).

I know, I know, it’s not good to soothe oneself with food. Especially not this kind of food. But it’s not like I do it every day.

I hemmed and hawed and finally decided that, okay, I’m gonna do it. A little pot of tea and 47 — oh, wait — no, just one profiterole. And that table over there in the corner. Yep. That’ll do quite nicely.

There were a couple of people ahead of me and as I waited, my stressful day and the list of Things To Do when I got back home flooded into my mind. I felt my shoulders tense again and I thought I’d just sighed in my head but I think I must have sighed out loud. And I do mean “loud.” Oops.

The man in front of me turned around and looked me straight in the eye.

Uh-oh. Had the heavy sigh made me sound impatient? ’Cause that would have been awful. And rude. And I hadn’t meant to be impatient or awful or rude. Especially when I wasn’t even in any kind of hurry to get home. It was the last place I wanted to be!

I offered a slightly embarrassed little smile and rolled my eyes, but before I could offer up my rough day as an excuse, he said, “You look like you could use a treat. This one’s on me.”

Uh…what’s that now? Did I hear that correctly?

Yep. I did. Somehow, this complete stranger sensed that it was a Murphy kinda day. He picked up on my feeling stressed and wanted to make it a little better — just because he could.

I’m pretty sure that man worked some actual magic. Or maybe it was in the profiterole (’cause … choux pastry, whipped cream, and a drizzle of chocolate). But wherever it had come from, it broke the spell. I sat at the corner table, sipping on that little pot of tea, nibbling on my 47 — no, really, it was just one profiterole — and I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders.

Even better, after I’d skipped all the way home (well, okay, maybe not on the outside, but I was skipping on the inside), Murphy had made himself scarce. No more glitches that day, and in fact, it was one of the best days I could remember in a very long time.

All because of the kindness of an astute man who was waiting to buy a donut and a cuppa joe.