The Kindness of Strangers

     Last month I had the opportunity to drive from Florida to New York by myself.  My father lives in Florida and had flown back to New York for the summer.  Being a teacher, I volunteered to fly down to Florida after school ended to drive his car back to New York.  My father and many others wanted me to take someone with me so I did not have to make the drive by myself.  I however, was truly looking forward to the quiet of the drive. The end of the school year is filled with many activities: picnics, field days, concerts and graduations.  The idea of being alone for a couple of days was too much for me to pass up.

I decided that I was going to experiment a bit as I traveled.  I am usually the kind of person who keeps to myself and does not go out of my way to strike up conversations with strangers.  This trip however, I intentional wanted to put as much positive energy out into the world as I could, without, of course, becoming uncomfortable.  I didn't go around talking to everyone I passed, but I did try to put my positive energy out into the world. I went out of my way to hold doors for strangers, I struck up small conversations as I shopped, I joked with the toll booth attendant and chatted with people in the elevator. Small things, but as they began to add up, I could feel my energy increasing. This fueled my desire to keep going.

The last night of my trip I decided to have dinner at  Cracker Barrel.  When I was shown my table, I noticed a woman across the room who was also eating alone.  She was in the middle of eating her meal and looking at her phone.  She appeared to be kind and I thought how fun it would be to just walk up to her as ask to have dinner together.  Unfortunately, it looked as she was finishing her meal and I was just ordering.  I smiled and went back to reading my book.  After I was served my meal, the delightful waitress who was assigned my table stopped by to inform me that my meal had been paid for.  I was shocked to find out that the woman I had been thinking about approaching had paid for my meal!  We never spoke, nor did we even make eye contact yet she chose to pay for my meal without acknowledgement.  Wow! 

The only thing I regret from my trip is not approaching this kind woman when I had the chance.  Perhaps we could have forged a friendship.