#252: Side by Side
Our local Starbucks drive-thru has become a COVID bedrock for my family in New Jersey (and our dog who knows that means he will get a “pupachino”). More times than I can count in the last few months, I have heard from my parents and sisters how they have gone and when they drive up to the window to pay, the barista tells them the person in front of them paid for their order…because someone in front of them did…so my parents/sisters pay for the people behind them…and then I would like to think they paid too for the people behind them.
This chain reaction of socially-distanced kindness I think is representative of a lot of things I have witnessed throughout 2020 - and I love how Amanda so wonderfully puts that sentiment into words below. I really hope this is something that continues beyond 2021.
- Lauren
SIDE BY SIDE
Someone recently asked me what I learned about humans in the last year. Maybe my response wasn’t something I necessarily “learned,” but it was something I more so felt about people and our existence side by side one another.
I said how, despite us needing to stay physically apart the last eight months, and having to tighten up a mask and go out of our way to ensure we don’t cross paths with someone, ironically I’ve actually somehow felt a huge sense of togetherness. Not just in fighting this pandemic, but in getting through the little challenges and finding ways to help one another make life a bit brighter. Together.
A friend shared a story with me a couple weeks back. He had mistakenly pulled away from a gas pump with his wallet atop the hood of his car. He realizes this miles down the road, and quickly pulls over into a Home Depot parking lot. As he rushes to check the hood of his car, it’s no surprise it’s not there. However, there was little time for hope to be lost as just moments later, a stranger pulls up behind him. She explains to him that she noticed his wallet fly off his car and land in the middle of an intersection. With this stranger’s directions, he was able to backtrack and safely retrieve his wallet which, although now had a tire mark imprinted across the front, still was completely intact. What blew me away most about this story, was that not only did this woman demonstrate such a meaningful act of kindness, but she truly had no idea just how far (literally) her generosity might have to go before it reached its receiving end.
This very same week, my sister who just moved to Manhattan, is Citi-biking through her new neighborhood, admiring its shops and restaurants, but is startled as a stranger pulls up directly aside her on his own bike, out of breath, holding out her purse she hadn’t realized she’d dropped multiple blocks back. Her shock in that moment limited the words she could get out, except a huge ‘thank you,’’ before this stranger pedaled away, returning back on his own path.
Fast forward one more week, when I am doing my normal jogging loop around town. A woman driving stops in the middle of the street and rolls down her window. I take out my headphones, knowing she must be about to ask for directions. But instead she asks, “Have you seen a loose dog? It’s tan and white. Pretty large.” I hadn’t, but I told her I’d keep an eye out for her. She thanked me, but she added that she was actually unsure who the owner was, and then continued to tell me the street he ran from with worry in her eyes. We went our separate ways, but now walking, I turned and took a last glance at this determined stranger, still driving at about 8 MPH down the road, stopping at other strangers on the sidewalk to ask if they’d seen this runaway dog - a dog that was not hers to find to begin with. Just like that wallet. And just like that purse.
I find it beautiful that not only do people come together to help each other, but actually have a natural desire to go out of their way to do it... to make another individual’s life a bit easier throughout this craze of a year, without looking for anything in return.
So, to answer the question again, I learned you can tell humans to avoid each other physically, to cover one’s face and keep distance. But that won’t stop a person from jumping into another’s path, without hesitation, if they know it will help. This is heartwarming to me. It’s nice to feel there’s always someone looking out, whether it be a loved one or an unknown individual. And to be able to feel a tangible spirit of unity, even amidst all the physical distance.