When You Want to Throw In the Towel
Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 7:30AM When you're still so remarkably pissed off at an insurance company...
When you're worried that someone is trying too hard to be upbeat and brave...
When it feels like there are some things in life you will never be ready for...
When you're tired of hearing "lie-berry" for library and "stay-puh-luh" for stapler...
When you listen to a student talk about visiting her boyfriend in prison, and her and her friend's tone indicates that there isn't anything strange about this to them; it's just how life is...
When it seems like spring will never come...
When your face is tired and feels like you've been crying for days, maybe because you have cried, at least a little, every day for two weeks...
When it feels like you simply can't go on because you just can't do all of this, you're only one person...
When all this happens...
You pull up to an intersection in Harlem, in the midst of a light hail storm, just as the light is turning from green to yellow and a middle-aged man loses control of his wheelchair on the small balls of ice landing everywhere on the sidewalk and street. He and his chair tip over in the middle of the intersection, as the light turns red. Just as you are putting your car in park, about to get out and help him, two men from opposite sides of the street, strangers to each other, come running, upright the wheelchair, and together they lift the man back into it and make sure he gets back onto the sidewalk safely. As the ice continues to fall and the traffic light turns green, no cars at the intersection move. Instead they all wait to be sure the man is safely back on the sidewalk, and then they drive on.
Just when you want to give up, the kindness of strangers can really provide a moment of renewal.
Reader Comments (3)
it's so nice to hear that there are still some truly decent people in this world.
This was a really touching post and made me tear up.
I love this post. I needed to read this today. Thanks.