This morning I was waiting at the bus stop by my local bakery, it was rather chilly and I was hunkered over the cart I use for grocery shopping.
A man came out of the bakery, tall, white guy, ball cap and beard, holding a big white bakery box.
Me, always street smart and suspicious, "Hello."
"Would you like a donut?" he asked.
I had never seen this man before in my life. I said, "If you're giving them away, sure."
He opened the box. there were a dozen or more donuts. I took a maple-frosted cake donut.
"Thank you," I said as he walked away. "That was very kind."
And I thought, Fuck it. i have ten minutes till my bus.
So I went into the bakery and asked to pay $10 for the next people to have free donuts.
"How about a dozen?" the girl behind the counter asked. "That's $10."
"Sounds fantastic!" I said.
She threw in a free M&M cookie for me.
While waiting to transfer to another bus a black woman my age who had a small, scruffy cart asked where I got mine. I told her, and we talked for quite a while about shopping carts and other life things.
When I got to the grocery store a woman said, "I like your t-shirt!" Later, another woman said the same thing. I thanked them both.
I've just gotten over a cold and I've been in a shitty mood because January wasn't the best month in several small ways. And yesterday a lot of annoying things happened to my best friend and I when we were out and about.
But today reinforced that the small things can change a person's day around. It doesn't have to be giving a stranger a free donut (gods bless that man). It can be telling a stranger you like her shirt, or earrings, or the dog she's walking. Not expecting or wanting more. Just letting someone know. Saying something kind and nice.
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