I've been making a concerted effort this year to combat negativity in my personal life, and the primary way that I have sought to accomplish this is to practice kindness in some way through the course of the day. It's been a small goal, each day, to try to just be kind to those who were causing me grief or frustration before I started this exercise. And for the most part, it's been positive. It's allowed me to look at the world through simpler eyes. And it's allowed me to see how practicing kindness can be done in the simplest of ways.
This morning I had to make dawn run to the grocery store to get provisions for the other members of the family who were suffering from the stomach flu. Having worked in grocery stores, the fact that the place was nearly deserted at that hour felt familiar and comforting. I grabbed the things we needed and made my way to the check out lanes. There was one lone cashier, who was cleaning the conveyor belt of an unlit lane. "I can get you on six," she motioned with her head towards the unmanned lane with the light on.
We didn't speak as she checked me through. These are the odd hours, the time when people are either coming home or leaving for work, a liminal space where the normal rules of society don't really hold fast. I was comfortable with the silence as she quickly rang everything up, but as she was bagging my stuff up while I swiped my card, I asked, "Are you just starting, or are you nearly done?"
"Another hour," she replied. "I'm done at seven."
"Well," I said as she handed me my sack, "Have a good day with the rest of your day, ok?"
And she looked up at me and smiled. "Yeah," she said, "You, too."
One of us coming, one of us going. A little bit of kindness, but at least for me that moment carried through the morning to color the day.
