Despite this unfortunate week, I have experienced for myself a very mundane, yet heart-warming act of kindness.
Our ‘family’ car which I drive to school every morning broke down during the previous weekend due to some kind of faulty wiring. Consequently, the engine fan belt was unable to function and we ought to have the car brought and repaired in the shop.
I have no choice but to welcome once again the oppression every school-day-without-a-car slams on me: the nagging persistence of the fact that I have to ride on a jeepney (because taxis are so damn expensive) every freaking busy morning on my way to school, and every heavy-traffic-stricken afternoon on my way home.
And mind you, it’s not easy. I’m sure every student residing far from the university agrees with me. I mean, frankly, who wants to ride on a jeepney fully packed with people squirming and battling for adequate space to sit, within one to two hours of travel doing absolutely nothing? It’s exhausting and a complete waste of time.
But today was different.
Like every busy morning since Monday, I found myself by the jeepney stop, in the crowd of people waiting and competing for a jeepney to ride on. When I saw a jeepney slowly decelerating to a stop to unload passengers, I bolted my way towards and inside of it, only to realize that 1. there was no space left for me to sit at the backseat; 2. the passenger to descend from the jeepney was in the front seat. With a slight desperation, I rushed out and towards the front seat —
One man had gotten hold of the front door already, on the verge of ascending to the front seat. Much to my chagrin, I decided to just find another jeepney. And in that very moment, the man called me and offered his seat, saying I take the seat because I still have classes to attend to.
And that’s all it took to ignite the bleak morning. Grateful, I took the seat and, with a smile, thanked him twice as the jeepney rumbled to a start.
It overwhelmed me so much, how something so ordinary and small can transform into something extra-ordinarily great. That simple act of kindness was a testament; a concrete proof that the human soul has retained its selfless nature. Perhaps, it was nothing for the man to do such kindness, but for me, it definitely was something big.
Imagine if one offers at least a simple act of kindness to another every single earthly day.
My Naked Eye 