Melissa Beckwith
9/25/2014/ Vail College English 101
Narrative Essay
Good, Small Deeds
The world was going to Hell. Everyday the news proved all that was going wrong with the world. It was on TV, the radio, across the pages of newspapers, and on the front of the magazines that lined the checkout isles at every grocery store. There was no getting away from the reports of people stealing from charities, the shootings, the domestic abuse cases, and so many other stories that played in the background of our day to day lives. In my own state, Ayla Reynolds, a 20 month old toddler from Waterville, Maine, had gone missing months ago and was believed by Maine police to be dead, possibly at the hands of her own parent. Even those that one would consider close to them, could hurt them. At this time, even the lives of myself and my daughter were disrupted by the cruel and selfish actions of someone close to us. It was also during this time that a simple moment would restore my faith in the humanity of strangers. This moment would reinforce my beliefs that good things come to good people and "what goes around comes around", good or bad, large or small.
I try to help people who are in situations where I would want someone to help me. One night while shopping-- months before the moment that was so small, but means so much-- an older gentleman I'd never met before, smiled at me and said "Hi". He had kind eyes, eyes that reminded me of my grandfather, so I smiled back. This same gentleman stood in front of me in line at the checkout and when the total rang up on his milk and few other food items, he started counting out change. Everyone in the line behind me seemed to grumble. As he was counting, he realized he was 2 cents short. The cashier wouldn't let him take his items without paying the last 2 cents. The entire line shuffled around impatiently and grumbled again. Quietly, I handed the man 2 cents and when he protested, I just smiled and told him he was doing me a favor by taking it. "I have too many pennies weighing me down", I said with a smile. He gave me the most sincere smile and thank you that I've ever received. It was nice to be appreciated for something, that at that time, seemed so small.
My daughter's father, someone I had grown to trust and depend on, suddenly abandoned us. I thought he was joking when he gave us the 7 day eviction notice and left us in the middle of the night, the night before grocery day. He disappeared without a word, left us with no money, a fairly empty fridge, and an uninspected and unregistered car with an empty gas tank. He wouldn't answer his phone and had apparently taken the week off from work. When I realized he wasn't coming back, I began to panic because while we had some food, we did not have anymore milk for my daughter. I checked our bank account, but my $75 check from free lance work had been transferred to his personal account shorty after being deposited. I cleaned the house from top to bottom, searched pants pockets and the laundry coin jar. I managed to scrounge up $6 and some change to get milk.
I packed my daughter and our change into the uninspected and unregistered car with the gas tank gauge on 'e' and prayed that it would make it to the gas station. It did. I had planned to put $3.50 in gas in the car so we could make it home, but distracted by my young daughter and my thoughts, ran over by accident. We still had enough for a half gallon of milk. I had my daughter on my left hip as I opened the sliding glass door to the convenience store refrigerator and scanned the prices of milk. I selected our half gallon of whole milk with the red label and set it on the counter. I held my breath, knowing very well that it would be close. The cashier rang it up with the gas and when tax was figured in, I just did not have enough money. I remember the sinking feeling like it was yesterday. All this for a half gallon of milk --digging change out of couches and from under beds, driving an uninspected, unregistered, and almost gasless car to the store praying that we make it-- and I had pumped too much gas to get what we had really come for.
Just when I was about to admit defeat and walk out the door with no milk, a complete stranger put change down on the counter. I looked up with a mixture of appreciation and surprise. He was tall, with a red baseball cap that almost hid his kind eyes. "You'll cover for me next time", he said with a reassuring smile. I'd never seen him before and will probably never see him again. I thanked him with tears in my eyes and left holding my baby girl and her half gallon of milk, eternally grateful for kind strangers and good, small deeds coming back around.
Every day, especially through the news and social media, we are made aware of all the horrible things that are going on around us. It is the rare occasion when we hear about the time that someone had their coffee paid for by the stranger ahead of them at the Dunkin' Donuts drive-through, for no reason besides the hope that maybe it would make their day better. It is even less common to hear that in turn, that person paid for yet another stranger's coffee behind them. It happens every day. It is quite common for a stranger to stop and check on someone that has pulled over with a flat tire, but you don't hear about that either. Then there is the most common and least noticed of all, a simple smile at a stranger when you notice they seem down or maybe underappreciated. These good, small deeds happen every day, seemingly unnoticed. It is these good, small deeds that keep humanity at it's best and keep one going when our world could otherwise be found discouraging.
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