Is our life really moving by so quickly that we forget to do the simple things in life? Whatever happened to the times of, here let me get that door for you, or helping someone across the street....how about just helping your neighbor in exchange for a thank~you....those times I think are almost gone.
This morning I went to the post office to check my mail after being up WAY too long. As I got out of the jeep, I noticed a woman in her vehicle who was sitting on the drivers side in a very deep sleep. The engine was running...I was immediately suspicious.....go figure. I looked inside the post office thinking maybe she had fallen asleep waiting on someone to take care of business inside. There was no one inside and the post office was up and running at it's normal business hours. I knocked on her window, and when the woman didn't awaken immdiately I kind of figured something was wrong. So, I knocked again and was finally able to get her to awaken enough to roll down her window and tell me she was a diabetic and didn't have the cash on hand to stop and get her some OJ this morning. I noticed oxygen and a cane beside her. I told her my name and that I was a paramedic and I was going to help her just to stay there until I got back. **mumbles something about the jumpbag I left at home the other day** I went into the post office, and of COURSE no one was at the front, I said HELLO!!! I need some help out here, the woman comes running to the front, I explained to her what was going outside, and told her I need food, candy bar, OJ, peanut butter crackers ANYTHING for this woman to eat. I went back outside where the woman was at, and woke her up yet again, while the post master handed me a twinkie LOL!
Twinkie to the rescue...She stayed awake long enough to eat the twinkie and the honey covered pecans I had given her to munch on and I started noticing a difference in her alertness. I went in checked her mail for her, brought it back out to her, told her once more who I was and then proceeded to follow her home as she drove just to make sure she arrived there safely.
My point to this garble....(if I haven't bored you to sleep with it), it doesn't take but just a minute, when something seems wrong to step over and make sure that someone doesn't need your assistance. The simple act of calling 911 for someone could mean the difference in someone living or them dying. The simple act of kindness, a simple smile, the touch of a hand, the concern in your voice as you listen to someone, just one small gesture could make a huge difference in someones life that they will remember forever.
Will I get a huge reward for doing what I did this morning while I was 'off duty'? Will there be some awesome write up in the paper?? Will she ever come back and say thanks for taking the time to help me? Probably not. Doesn't matter if anyone else knows what I did or not, it's the fact that I KNOW what I did, and I KNOW that the simple gesture of giving someone something to eat, of ensuring that she arrived home safely, of walking inside to check her mail for her so that she didn't use her low amount of carbs.....made the difference today in someones life.
