I followed the staff patiently, walking from the baking aisle to wherever he was leading me. Halfway, he turned back and made a hand gesture at me, indicating a question. I didn’t quite understand the question, but I nodded, smiled and followed him.

As we were approaching the vegetable section and he slowed his brisk walk, I had already my suspicion that he didn’t quite understand what I was asking for.

I was asking for broccoli chips, exactly like the one in the picture I showed him, while he thought that I was asking for the actual vegetable.

I tried to explain to him one more time what I wanted and after an expression of an aha moment, he gestured me to follow him. The smart man had led me to his colleague who right away directed me towards the very thing I was looking for.

The staff who had led me to the wrong item was mute.

He couldn’t talk.

You should have seen his face when I asked him for his assistance.

His eyes had lighted up.

That’s when I learned a simple kind of kindness. A different kind of kindness.

People like to feel useful.

It doesn’t matter which walk of life we’re from, who we are or what we do.

People, in general, like to feel that they serve a purpose. That they exist for a reason, to be of assistance to someone else.

For people who have disability, being asked for help makes them feel worthy. It makes them feel like despite their disability, they can still do something for someone else and be useful.

It feels good to be useful to other people.

It makes us feel powerful and capable.

Sometimes, granting someone else that power, is kindness.

I learned two valuable lessons from my grocery shopping that day.

One, is that sometimes,

being kind is as easy as making someone feels useful.

Sure, another staff would have gotten me to what I want faster, but unless I’m in a big rush and have absolutely no time to spare, I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t spend an extra 5 minutes to see if the friendly disabled staff would lead me to the item I wanted.

It could have panned out differently.

He could have known exactly what I was looking for and exactly where I could find it. I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t asked.

It’s a lesson I will keep in mind at all time.

Sometimes, kindness is as simple as
making people feel they matter.

Two, I shall save it for another post. It’s a lesson I learned that very same day, but I think it just warrants a whole piece to itself. I will share it soon. Promise 😊 Let’s make the world a little kinder, shall we?

Lesson #2:

Let’s paint the world with kindness: