Do Strangers Still Care?

I'm pretty sure that I have "sucker" written on my forehead. My family agrees, though it must be that kind of ink that doesn't show up in mirrors. My kids say I'm just being challenged to apply the fruits of the Spirit, as strangers see I'm a softie and take advantage of me. Sometimes when I'm cut off in a line or ignored, it leaves me wondering if strangers still care in this day of hurried schedules and pressures. Do you even wonder that? When I put on my teenager's shoes Thursday morning, I didn't know that those shoes would encourage me that people do still care. There are those who still take note of others and care enough to let it be known.

The shoes I borrowed have those kinds of laces that come untied constantly. While standing in the hallway before my Bible Study that morning, a lady stopped to let me know my shoe was untied. She noticed. She cared. She seemed relieved when I tied it, and we went on to our study groups. Later that day I stopped at a fast food restaurant to pick up a burger for my son (he said he had a craving for something "bad" for him J ). I joined the herd of people in the wrap around amusement park-style line. I barely made it in before a bus load of chorale students descended. As I stood there squinting at the dollar menu, a baseball cap came into view near me, as a man leaned over to speak to me. From under a french fry colored mustached he said, "'Scuse me, ma'am. Your shoe's untied." He noticed. He cared.

I made it through the day without tripping and with being encouraged by the small kindness of strangers. Rather small, you might say, but I was glad to know that there are kind people in my world, even strangers, and they still notice people around them and care. Those are the kinds of small habits that make "good Samaritans." It's nice to know, and it encourages me to take note of the laces around me and those who tie them.

Has a stranger been kind to you lately?