Hola! My name is Beth Root. I’m Amy’s little sister, also here at NAU. I’m a wee little freshman – although since this year is almost over, I’m not a wee little freshman anymore. I’ve been living in Flagstaff for just over 10 months. Flagstaff has a lot of crazies and a lot of punks. But, I’ve found that Flagstaff is filled with some of the most wonderful people. I wouldn’t have survived up here without the kindness of so many people. So, I’m here to share with you some kindness people have shown me recently.
There was one instance where I was walking to the Institute building (also known as the Welcome Center) and there was a young man walking behind me. As I approached the door, he rushed ahead of me. I was even reaching for the door, but he reached out also, making sure he got it first, simply so he could open the door for me. It was a super simple gesture, but it just showed to me that chivalry is not dead. He was thinking outside himself, which people can always do more.
Another morning, I was on the bus. It was crowded and I ended up standing up. At the next stop, some seats opened up. There was only one open seat by me. I looked at the guy standing by me, uncertain if I should go ahead and sit down or if I should let someone else sit down – remembering some posts Amy’s done here. He made eye contact with me and it looked like he was about to sit down, but then he turned to me and said, “You can go ahead and sit down,” and moved aside. It was once again, a very simple gesture, but I was incredibly grateful. Because, one, I have pretty much awful balance, and every time the bus has to stop, I feel like I’m going to topple over into someone’s lap. And, two, it just showed that, once again, people are kind! I think we sometimes assume that people we don’t know won’t show kindness – at least, I do. I mean, I don’t think we assume people are horrible, awful, mean people, but that they just won’t go out of their way to show kindness. But they do!
This morning, I was walking to my Spanish class. It was 8:00, it was cold, I was tired, and all those things meant that I was looking down, scowling at the ground. When I looked up, there was a girl walking towards me. She smiled at me and waved, as if we were best buds. At first I was puzzled, but then I was filled with a happiness. Who cares that she had no clue who I was, that I had no clue who she was? Why can’t we just smile and wave at strangers and not have it be questioned?
So, I’ve been trying to show my kindness – I’m not particularly good at it. I have a hard time doing it with complete strangers. But, I’ve done thing like the dishes for my roommates and leaving a note on a friend’s car that I was walking by. You know. Just spreading the love. Because love makes the world go round.
Great post, Beth! It's the little things that count :)
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