Today. I\u2019m \u201czipping\u201d along my usual route home. \u201cIn a hurry.\u201d Because\u2026
\nOnce again, the \u201celves are shouting,\u201d because the bigger my little tenant in the belly grows, the shorter the distance from point A to B I can cover without having to slam on the brakes to check in with the elves.<\/p>\n
But the thought of \u201churry hurry\u201d stops me in my tracks at the roadside, where a very bright-faced grandmother is standing, holding up traffic. Next to her is a huge bag of groceries.<\/p>\n
I slam on the brakes.
\nHer face is streaked with sweat. Her breathing is heavy.
\n\u201cChild,\u201d she says\u2014when I ask what happened\u2014\u201cI misjudged my strength and couldn\u2019t carry the groceries home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her request is modest: just give her a lift, even a little, so home is closer.
\nI help the elderly lady into the car and load her really heavy bag.
\nOn the way, I learn she\u2019s 85. She had planned a surprise dinner for her family tonight, intending to buy the groceries herself and cook, but\u2026 she had overestimated her strength.<\/p>\n
The whole way, she fumbles with her small purse with her roughened hands. \u201cLooking for something.\u201d
\nWhen we reach her house, she stretches out money to me:
\n\u201cFor the ride, child, and your kind heart,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
I smile and answer that she certainly owes me nothing.
\nTurning with her bright gaze, she gets out and, with a caring voice, murmurs:
\n\u201cBe blessed.\u201d<\/p>\n
I drive away from the old lady\u2019s yard truly blessed. Such a small thing, yet my heart feels so light and warm.<\/p>\n
Recently, my Patricija and a neighbor girl have taken up \u201ctrading.\u201d They set up beyond the yard with a bucket for sitting, a \u201cstall\u201d for arranging their assortment, and eye-catching posters. They sell pumpkins, zucchini, tomatoes from a grandmother\u2019s garden, the last cucumbers, blueberries in cups, and mushrooms grown locally in the forest.<\/p>\n
Seeing a car approaching, they raise the posters, grab their best products, and wave to \u201cpotential\u201d buyers.
\nStrangely, there are buyers who stop. Some buy berries, some are tempted by vegetables, and some buy nothing\u2014but after praising them for being \u201cso clever,\u201d they still give money. All evening, Pa rattles off impressions and shares her new experience as a seller.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, the excitement reached its peak:
\n\u201cMom, even the HOSPITAL stopped by our store (meaning the ambulance), and the doctor got out and bought blueberries from us without taking any change!!!\u201d she exclaims, laughing with joy.<\/p>\n
The little heart can\u2019t contain the happiness that their roadside \u201cstore\u201d is so popular.<\/p>\n
Recently, I sent Dominykas to pick up a few essential items from the nearby supermarket. I sneakily asked if he could buy salmon for dinner too. The weight of the fish, and the pieces, is hard for a child to judge, and he\u2019d never done it before\u2014but he said he would try.<\/p>\n
Out of nowhere, he returns home with the right-sized piece of salmon\u2014and way too much change for my eyes. When I ask why the change is so large, he explains that \u201cthe lady weighing the fish asked if I have a discount card.\u201d
\nWhen he said no, she explained that with a card, the fish is discounted; without it, the purchase would be more expensive.
\n\u201cI showed her I had enough money, but she\u2026\u201d
\nNevertheless, she guided me to the checkout and waited in the long line to hand her card to the cashier so my fish would cost less, Dominykas tells me.<\/p>\n
Also, she held my fish for me, he adds with a smile.<\/p>\n
Just fish. Just a discount.<\/p>\n
But I watch how a child experiences the simplest, sincere human kindness.
\nI look into those eyes exploding with happiness and hear the child recount how the fish seller and buyer stood at the register, and a good feeling wraps itself up in their heads.<\/p>\n
Just a simple \u201cslamming on the brakes.\u201d
\nGiving a ride to an elderly lady who miscalculated her strength, or \u201csupporting\u201d local kids hidden behind pumpkins and zucchini at their stall.
\nSo many emotions and real feelings are stirred.<\/p>\n
And again, I press a simple \u201chuman kindness\u201d into my palm, rejoicing once more that it hasn\u2019t disappeared.
\nIt hasn\u2019t gone anywhere.
\nIt hasn\u2019t evaporated.
\nAnd it doesn\u2019t yet need to be entered into the Red Book.<\/p>\n
Look around.
\nWhen necessary\u2014slam on the brakes.<\/p>\n
V.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-17619","istorija","type-istorija","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istorija\/17619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istorija"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/istorija"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}