Entering adulthood is equally exciting and terrifying, but nobody talks about how your perspective of life immensely changes. At least for me, this was the case. Throughout these first few years of adulthood, I began to notice the smaller things in my life, whereas, when I was a kid, I just didn’t pick up on smaller details in life, or appreciate them. Now I have really begun to pay attention to the small ways people interact with each other and their small acts of kindness.
Here are the smaller things in life that have restored my faith in humanity…
I’m 5’ 3 so I’m not exactly reaching the top shelf of any shelf. A few weeks ago, I was grocery shopping by myself, with a cart full of food, and one of the last things on my list was these specific tortillas. As I’m looking up and down the shelf, I see one perfect bag on the top shelf. My first thought was to stand on one of the shelves to reach it, which is a normal occurrence for me. As I placed one foot on the shelf an older man passing by said, “Oh let me help,” and without hesitation grabbed the bag for me.
After I thanked him he smiled and wished me well. The exchange was minuscule but it stuck with me. The man didn’t even ask if I needed help, but rather just jumped in when he saw me mildly struggling.
Shout out to the man in Giant for grabbing my tortillas!
My roommate is another person who restores my faith in humanity. My sophomore year I remember getting deathly sick with a cold. I couldn’t go to class for several reasons, one being the fact that my throat was so scratchy that I could barely speak. I had a brief conversation with my roommate before she left for the day, telling her how my throat was bothering me. Later that day I received a “Do you like chai tea” text, which was followed by a warm cup of Starbucks chai tea in my roommate’s hand, which she picked up for me.
I remember almost crying, possibly because I was drugged up on Dayquil, but also because of how kind it was.
I was excited about the chai tea, but it meant more to me that my roommate would go out of her way to grab me a drink after her long day of classes. Even after I thanked her and told her I’d get her back, she insisted it was no big deal.
That’s just the type of person she is. What can I say, my roommate is an angel.
So this is less of an act of kindness, but one of the most heartwarming moments I’ve experienced. When I was waitressing, back at home I would make friendly conversation with customers. Usually just simple exchanges about the weather… but every once in a while you get people who love to talk, like this one man.
He was an older man, retired, and came in daily to get his coffee. It was a slow day, and I wasn’t doing much so he came over and began talking to me. He asked for my name. First and last. When I said the name “Zadroga” he jokingly said, “hm a Zadroga used to cut my hair a long time ago, I was good friends with him. Charlie was his name.”
I practically had to pick my jaw up from the ground.
Charlie was my grandfather, who cut hair for a living, who must’ve cut this man’s hair decades ago.
My grandfather passed away before I was born, so I never had a relationship with him. When I told him that, he began talking about how genuine of a friend my grandfather was to him and that although he didn’t have the opportunity to meet me, he would’ve been proud of me. From there every time I saw him at work, he would hug me and ask me about life.
I miss this man greatly, whether he knows it or not he made me feel more connected with my grandfather than I ever had in my life. All because of a friendly exchange.
Although adulting comes with its hardships, I feel thankful that I am at the point in my life where I appreciate the little details. As I’ve gotten older life feels a little heavier, so moments like these reassure me that humanity is still prevalent. Even in the simplest ways.