Appreciating the Kindness of Strangers

Three times in the past two weeks. Three times when complete strangers went out of their way to do something earnestly good.

One night, a free coffee at Starbucks when I forgot my wallet — and would you believe it, this is the least of the list. Second — I bike to work at the U. I leave my van at St. Mark's, meander along River Road and end up just outside my building on Church and Washington. Probably a twenty-minute ride. I pull in to the bike rack last week to realize that I left my lock behind in the van. I can't really go back as I'd probably be late for class. As I'm about to take my chances stashing my bike in the building, someone I've never met offers to share his combination lock with me. Out of the blue. He says, "It's happened to me sooo many times. I'll be here 'till 9 tonight. No big deal." My students, when hearing this, asserted that my bike was "so gone." It wasn't. And wait until they hear the next tale. Today, biking to pick up Eddie at school after work. I'm running late, cross Cleveland only to lose my chain. Broken. I have a few more blocks to go. So I run — with greasy chain and heavy bag. Someone -- Nora she said later — pulls up next to me on her bike and asks if I need help. I explain the situation and she offers me her bike saying, "I'm not in a hurry at all." So, this nice person pushes my broken bike four blocks while I take off to St. Mark's on hers. We swap in the playground. Quite something.

I'm resisting a moral to these stories because I don't know if there's a lesson to be learned or just something to know. To know that the world is really a good place, filled with good people who do good things for each other. Or maybe it's just the urban utopia that is St. Paul, I don't know...