Remembering

                  

"Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not."

 - Mark Twain 

 

 

There was one particular moment in high school where I witnessed a simple act of kindness - something so small yet so significant that I have never forgotten it. It was a day just like any other, I was sitting on the bus, waiting to go home for the day, just gazing out the window when I saw a very popular, senior boy walking across the lawn. He was handsome, talented, well-liked. He seemingly had everything. The friends, the girls, whatever. You know the type. In front of this popular dude was another boy, from a completely opposite world. Nerdy, very few friends, kind of an outcast. He was walking with his head down, and it kind of seemed like the burdens of his life had been really weighing upon him. What happened next shocked and amazed me. I watched this popular, handsome boy walk right up to the nerdy boy, and put his arm around his shoulders. He smiled and began talking to him like they were the oldest of friends. I had just seen a complete social taboo broken right in front of my eyes! It was amazing.

 

The popular guy had no obligation whatsoever to show kindness to that other boy. He had an 'image' to uphold after all, right? Most boys of his social status wouldn't be caught dead doing what he did, but he saw someone in need of a friend, someone in need of a little kindness. Despite the fact that they were from two opposite worlds, he went out of his way to make sure that someone had a friend that day.

 

That guy probably didn't think anyone was watching, and I'm pretty sure he never had any clue who I was. But I have never forgotten him, and I have never forgotten the example that he set for me that day. It taught me a valuable lesson - it is important to always be kind, even to those who you might not choose to hang out with on a normal basis, or just to people you like, or even just to likeable people, but to everyone.