An unexpected act of kindness and the reward

Here are two of my favourite quotes about kindness: "Unexpected kindness is the least costly, most underrated agent for human change" - Bob Kerry "Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but of who you are" - Harold S Kushner. Even the good book says in Proverbs 3v7 "Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it" (Good News Translation) I recently read a heart-warming story about a Houston, Texas Walgreens cashier, Ms. Rita Jackson Burns who performed an act of kind and what happened after that is mind blowing. Rina Liou, the recipient of this act of kindness wrote a message requesting the contacts for the Walgreens Headquarters Management to share with them this act of kindness by one of their employees. The act Rina had a house that was listed for sale and someone was coming to view the house. To prepare for the arrival of the viewer, she went to the house to make sure that it was ready for showing upon which realised that three light bulbs had burnt out. Wanting everything to be perfect before the arrival of the viewer, she had twenty minutes to rush to the shops to buy the bulbs and come back to replace them. When she was about to pay for the bulbs at Walgreens she realised that she did not have her wallet and did not have time to go back home and come back. As minutes were ticking away and she was panicking, the cashier felt pity for her and said "I would pay for you but I only have $20 in my account". A few moments later she realised that the light bulbs were 50% off and realised that she could afford them. She flagged her manager and paid $11 for Rina's bulbs using her own debit card (effectively remaining with $9 in her account).

Rina narrates the kindness of Ms. Rita Rina was touched by Rita's act of kindness and says "she had no way of even knowing how important $11 worth of light bulbs were to me but she did not hesitate to help me." She did go back to return her money with a token of appreciation. It did not end there, on 9 September 2020, she went on to create a gofundme page to help Rita and says "I feel so happy that despite the pandemic, political tensions (in the USA), and everything we are going through, that humanity can still shine through." To date, $20,433 has been raised for Rita from 648 donors. This is the reward of being kind! It would still have been perfectly ok if Rita had not cared about Rina's problem. She didn't have to help....but she did. She helped not from a space that she had money but because she felt that it was the human thing to do and it is such acts of kindness that are an agent for human change. With $20 in her bank account, she was already broke and $11 would not have made that much of a difference anyway.

Many a time however we find good excuses for not helping. Kindness becomes what it is when we help not because someone deserves it or because we expect the person to reciprocate. It is an act of kindness when we do not expect anything in return and the underlying motive is our humanity. It is when we walk a mile in the other person's shoes and try to experience what they are going through that we are moved to help. We are not always rewarded or appreciated but it does not take away the fact that helping is the right thing to do. The world needs more Ritas today!