The Old Man's Walk

Every day I see him. He walks in front of my coffee shop, head bent low by the many years weighing upon his shoulders. His feet shuffle as though they are too heavy for him to pick up off the ground. His hands gnarled by arthritis dangle by his sides, barely swinging as he takes each step. He has wispy hairs at the back of his neck, but he is otherwise bald. I often wonder what his destination is, why he walks to and from somewhere in front of my coffee shop. But I never ask him. He seems lonely and sad, like there is no one who cares about him in the world.

One day, I make a small cup of tea for a customer, but somehow they leave without their drink. At that moment, I see the old man shuffling by, his shoulders still slumped by the weight of the years. I take the cup of tea and go outside to meet him. I tell him how I see him each day, and how I thought he might like a cup of tea.

A dentured grin spreads across his face. It is crinkled like old paper, but with the outreach of kindness it seems younger than it did a moment ago. He takes the cup of tea, and thanks me with vigor. I turn to go back into the shop and he follows me. I wonder what he is up to, but he simply says "It has been so long since someone has treated me with such kindness. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

When was the last time you reached out to someone? Have you thought of the small things you could do to make someone's day? It is so easy to show kindness, but so often we think that we have to make grandiose gestures of kindness for them to really have an effect on someone, but this is simply not the case. It is often the small gestures that brighten someone's day the most, perhaps because they are the least anticipated.