The Good Samaritan (December 2006)
2006 was a tough year for the country. With the war on Iraq, debates over tough issues like immigration, surveillance, and civil liberties, and a political battle to determine the base of power in Washington, the nation confronted a number of dark shadows that had been looming in the background for years.
However, even in times such as these, moments of kindness and selflessness remind me of the inherent good of people and spark a hope for things to come.
It was several days before Christmas, and during my lunch break I strolled down to the Post Office in San Jose to mail some last minute holiday cards. My coworker, and good friend, “B” accompanied me. B is a young, wicked smart, beautiful person who, along with my other friends “T” and “little dub,” have made my transition to California-living the joy that it is.
So B and I waited in what seemed like an endless line of holiday mailing procrastinators. As we eventually got closer to the cashiers, an elderly woman came strolling down the line. She approached a number of people, but didn't evoke a response. When she finally got to us, she spoke in a language that I could not decipher. Regardless of language barrier, you would think that a culturally sensitive person such as myself would have been able to help this woman out, but I, like everyone else in line, was lost in her inability to speak English and in my own thoughts and daydreams (I was trying to calculate how much my letters to the Philippines would cost).
Of all the people in the Post Office, B was the only one who assisted the poor woman. Not that B can speak what we eventually figured to be Vietnamese, but common sense would dictate that an elderly woman holding a bag of products in a post office was probably trying to mail something. Through effective non-verbal communication, B was able to figure out that she was looking for a box and helped her assemble one of those cheerful little holiday boxes.
She may not have saved the world or reduced poverty to reach global millenium goals, but she made a difference in one person's life. On some days, is there really anymore that you can ask? Good things still do happen.
Cheers B, you were my 2006 Good Samaritan!