I was standing in line at the bank hoping to get some customer service quickly. Half an hour later, it was finally my turn. There had been some problems with my account and, before it could be fixed, I was asked to deposit the money I had come to deposit, quickly, hopefully running, and then come back to speak to the man behind the desk.
For some odd reason I couldn’t think (just one of those days,) and I tore up three deposit slips before I got it right. I approached the Automatic Deposit Machine and cringed at the thought of making a mistake or the machine going “Hal” on me (Yes, I’m a Kubrick fan). I wrinkled my forehead and began to press buttons hoping I’d get it right (time was after all ticking at the service desk) when suddenly I heard a voice behind me.
“Excuse me, young lady?”
I turned around to see an old woman wearing a rusty brown coat that had seen better days.
“Ah, yes?”
“I don’t know what little paper to use to withdraw money from this account, “ she said in a soft voice while displaying a savings account booklet.
“Little paper?”
“Yes, you know, for money…
“Oh! You mean withdrawal slips. The green ones over there…”
The lady hesitated for an instant and stood next to me, looking at my fumbling fingers on the machine.
“Could you fill one out for me?”
“Ah… ok, just let me finish here.”
I had flashing thoughts of the man behind the desk not waiting for me, of something terrible happening at the office while I was away or my boss wondering why I was taking so long. I managed to finish the deposit and looked at the lady.
“You know, any other day I’d have all the time in the world, but I’m on office hours, the man behind the desk is waiting for me, and how about I get you a bank guard to help you out?”
Article comments
1 - Victor Lana
What a sweetly sad tale. Kindness does indeed matter in this world more than we sometimes like to acknowledge. Remember that line from Hebrews in the Bible: "Be careful to entertain strangers; sometimes they are angels unawares."
2 - Nancy
How much was the check for? if it was a large amount, most likely someone was trying to gyp this little old lady out of her worldly funds, as well.
3 - Alfre
Wow! What a story! Thanks for sharing! it was short but it has a great message! Very good! Congratulations for taking the decition of helping her out! :-)
4 - Justin
Beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing!
I love the title of this post, as well - because it's so true that end the end, kindess is the most important thing in any situation. I actually just read about an event that encompassed that idea called the Kindness Cab. Check it out, it's really inspiring!
5 - Christopher Rose
Kindness is such an important and under-rated quality, so easy to overlook.