i don’t think i could ever lose my kindness.
i don’t want to.
i am strong,
but i’m very sensitive to others.
so i was sitting at my desk waiting for some files from another department.
it was taking a while to arrive…
they ended up being delivered by an older vixen that i just met.
she is new to the company and very nice.
by our first conversation,
we hit it off.
i was my regular self and she was drawn to me.
well when she got to me desk,
she started to choke up.
i was thinking to myself i didn’t need the files that bad.
she turned her head and she started to cry.
at this point,
everyone in my department was watching.
a few even walked away.
she kept apologizing for showing this emotion,
but i got up and started to comfort her.
she didn’t want to talk about it,
but i could see the pain in her eyes.
she told me how she was going through a tough legal situation with her ex husband.
he was hitting below the belt and it has been taking a toll on her.
i got her some tissues,
gave her some advice,
and told her to get it out.
you have to get all the tears and emotions out before you can move on.
i’ve been there and still there over some things/people.
i still get sad over the past,
but i’m not as bad as i was.
well she pulled it together,
hugged me,
and thanked me for listening.
i told her she got this.
i’m more shocked everyone else didn’t react the way i did.
i guess it’s better to watch this older vixen break down than assist.
i went to check on her later on the day,
but she ended up leaving early.
i’ll check in tomorrow.
i have my “he-bitch” moments,
but it takes nothing to be kind.
i’m not perfect,
but i’m definitely not Satan.
we all need a shoulder when it gets tough.
i’m blessed with great friends,
and a huge foxhole,
when i’m down and out.
others don’t have that luxury so it’s best to pay it forward.
i don’t like the idea of someone suffering in silence.
i will continue to be this fox.
i will also continue to channel my “he-bitch”,
because a healthy balance is needed,
but i won’t let it make me bitter and mean.
i see what that can do to people.
i will admit that i give my kindness to the wrong ones at times,
but i have always received blessings because of it.
learn to pay it forward.
I think that’s great that you listened, and helped her pull herself together. I on the other hand most certainly would not. I despise people who bring their personal problems into the workplace to ‘share’, and expect me to stop doing what I’m there to do, to listen to their problems. Its especially vulgar if its people I don’t know.
For me doing something like that isn’t an act of kindness – before you know it, every time you look up she will be there, expecting you to give up your time for her problems. Selfish or what? Doesn’t she have other support outlets, friends, family, she can turn too before bringing that to work? I see that as a sign of weakness.
But I appreciate there are people like you that do and encourage people to unload onto them. I’m just not wired like that.
Good job at excelling in being a human being. Too many people buy into the image that you have to be cold or uncaring to be cool. I think your actions were well needed and empathy is definitely a reason why people are drawn to you. I’m proud of you today.
We live in a world were it is so easy to turn the other way and play like we dont notice, like the people in your office did today, but what you did today may make a difference that you may not ever even hear about. Years ago, I was in the position to give a teenager a job when I sat in on a interview panel at my job, he was a young Black male who would not probably had been chosen had I not sat in on the panel. At the time, I had no idea that he was the oldest of 4 children in his family and his young single mother was on government assistance and he needed a job to help her and to just to have money to be a normal teenager. He gravitated toward me once he got hired and I would always encourage him to go to college and stay out of trouble away from all temptations of crime and drugs that he grew up in. I would often times buy him lunch or give him some of my tennis shoes I didnt wear anymore just little things that were easy for me to do. Well he ended up leaving the job when he finished high school and didnt go off to college because he got his girlfriend pregnant. I told him it was not the end of the world, it was just going to be a little harder. We lost touched and I always wondered what happened to him. Well fast forward to 2016, this young man found me on Facebook by chance from a mutual friend. He reached out to me and told me that he never forgot how I gave him a chance, all the things I done for him, it had been so long ago I had actually forgot until he reminded me, he told me he and his girlfriend were now married with other children and he now owned his own business, and if I needed anything just let him know. I was floored. He thanked me for believing in him and told me he never forgot the many things I told him and done for him. When I tell you I was almost teary eyed, that was one of the nicest things anyone has ever said. I said all of this to say, we never know the impact we can have in someones life and we may be the reason they were able to make it another day. If you live long enough, someone will be able to help you as well. A kind word or good deed can go a long way.
^tajan, you have such a giving spirit that story got me in my feels over here
^this definitely hit the heart strings.
very nice of you to do that tajan!
Man your a therapist. I feel like that too when guests at my spa just vent out personal stuff. I agreed tho, stuff in the past don’t phase me however the one that really hurt me took years for me to forget and move on. People can be selfish and cold just to see you suffer. Why is that?
The sad thing is what you did is actullay nothing special, you were just human, with compassion and empathy. but we live in a world where those things don’t exist anymore. Like be a decent human being is just too hard for people today. It costs nothing to be kind, absolutely nothing. Jamari you’re a good soul. Thank you for sharing this, i love those kind of stories so i don’t lose hope in humanity.
that was so sweet , I’m the same with my kindness (I get it from my mom) I can’t see myself not being nice and caring there are times it has given me strength and blessings. I don’t think it’s a problem of WHO we give our kindness to but more so WHAT they decided to do with it once they get it.
This reminds me of that email that went around where the kid was going to kill himself and an act of kindness from another kid prevented him from doing so. You never know how what you say or do might affect others.