Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I still remember a kindness from over thirty years ago, and have often thought of it as an example to live by. It had a profound affect on me because it was given so nonchalantly, in passing, yet it was deeply thoughtful.<\/p>\n
![\"Patch](\"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015-03-10_01.jpg\")
The patch on my old YPSS hat<\/p><\/div>\n
The summer after my freshman year in college, I worked at the Fishing Bridge service station in Yellowstone National Park. I pumped gas, checked oil and air filters, patched tires, that sort of thing.<\/p>\n
It was a fun job, working outside, playing hacky-sack during the slow times, hiking on days off.<\/p>\n
Although I’d had a job before, I had never had to count back change. It’s a simple thing, but I wasn’t used to doing it.<\/p>\n
One day early in the summer, a man who looked to be in his late 50s stopped at the gas station. I walked up to his window and his eyes lit up with surprise. I guess back then it wasn’t common for a woman to be pumping gas. While I checked his car’s oil and air filter, he kept going on and on about how he’d never had a woman pump gas for him. Needless to say, I found his giddy condescension quite irritating and was looking forward to sending him on his way.<\/p>\n
When it came time to pay, we were standing outside his car. He handed me a 100 dollar bill and I shortchanged him by 50 dollars. Oops.<\/p>\n
When he realized my mistake, his big smile evaporated into a frown. I felt bad about it, and I felt stupid. I also knew I’d reinforced his chauvinistic view of women, and that added to my embarrassment.<\/p>\n
Just at that moment, Joe, one of the guys who worked at the station, walked by us, counting cash in his hand, and said “I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve done that.” It completely diffused the situation. And it made me feel better; I certainly was not the first person to accidentally shortchange someone.<\/p>\n
![\"Nickel](\"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015-03-10_02.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The man grumpily recounted his change, then got into his car and drove away.<\/p>\n
That is still one of the kindest things anyone has ever said to me. For<\/em> me. It was such a little comment, said in passing, but at that moment, when I felt so young and exposed and embarrassed, it was a huge act of kindness. And he didn’t have to say it.<\/p>\n Thanks, Joe.<\/p>\n When have you done or said something just to be kind?<\/strong><\/p>\n What is an example of a kindness that you remember?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What you do\u2014and who you are\u2014matters more than you may realize. And seemingly small acts of kindness can make a big difference in someone’s life. As Ian Maclaren reminds us: Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. I still remember a kindness from over thirty years ago, and have often thought […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-compassion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions\/85"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juliebaldwin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}