The Lost Virtue

There was a teenaged boy sitting on a bench outside of a grocery store waiting for his mom to get her chance to check out.  As he sat there he saw people drive through the cross walk as people were trying to cross, carts being left behind or next to cars when the cart stall was just a few feet away, drivers cutting in front of others waiting patiently for a parking place to open.  He wondered if there was any kindness left in the world. 

At that moment, a man looking in his thirties pushed his way past a woman looking in her eighties heading out of the store.  The woman lost her balance.  She was able to grab the door frame to keep herself from falling but dropped her bags of groceries.  The teenager instantly got up and started to assist her.  Before he could grab his first apple that was rolling toward the parking lot, the young man bagging his mom’s groceries ran to help the woman.  The teenager heard the store employee ask if she was okay.  The twenty something bagger went back into the store to get new plastic bags and came back out. 

The store manager saw what was going on and came out to check on the woman.  The assistant manager took the place of the young employee and started bagging the teenaged boy’s mother’s groceries.  The twenty something employee handed his younger assistant a few of the new bags and they both bagged the woman’s products and carried the bags to her car.  She thanked them and tried to pay them for their help.  They both declined and told her that it was their pleasure to help her.  All three could not help but smile.  The teenager asked her if she was okay one last time before she drove away.  She reassured both boys that she was fine.

The bagger went back to his position and thanked the assistant manager for taking over.  He saw the teenaged boy’s mom walking out.  He quickly went to her and apologized.  When others watched looking down on the man for walking away to help the woman, the mom looked at him and said loudly so all could hear, “You did the right thing helping her.  I would have waited until you were done if I had to.”  This made the young man smile and went back to bagging.  As she walked out she said loudly, “This world needs more people like him.” 

Once the teenaged boy and his mom finished packing the car and got buckled up, the mom turned to her son, “There needs to be more people like you.” And she reached over and messed up his hair.  “Let’s go grab something to eat… your choice, my superman.”  The teenager didn’t think his mom saw him help.  He was fine if she didn’t, but he was happy that she let him know that he was one of those who has kindness in this world. 

After that day, the older woman always made sure she went into the checkout lane that the young man was working at just so she can thank him.