While we did not lose power because of the storms, many of my friends, co-workers, and Nannie did, and some are still without power. Lucky us because my Nannie has been staying with us for a few days until her power is restored.
Tonight after my mom fixed dinner, she went outside to help my dad with some tree related things before eating, so my Nannie and I waited for them enjoyed dinner together. She has been reading my blog and from the post seen here she let me in on the identity of those flowers. The ones that I termed as "fuzzy" are actually Mimosa Trees, and the "peaceful, white ones" are Queen's Anne's Lace.
Initially these just struck my fancy as I made my drive to and from work everyday. Little did I know that they would tug on a different heart string for someone else. After explaining to me what each one was, my Nannie told me that as a child she laid underneath a Mimosa Tree that was on my Grandparent's (her parent's) farm on those hot summer days. Now whenever I see them, I will always think of my Nannie laying under them as a kid.
On another note, I forgot to mention something pretty crazy that happened to me this weekend. On Saturday night I went to the movies with my cousin and decided to swing through the Chik-Fil-A drive thru and grab a sandwich first. I proceeded to the payment window where the employee told me that the woman in front of me wanted to do something nice for someone today, so she paid for the person's meal behind her. Which was me. I was shocked and completely humbled by this woman's actions. I noticed she had pulled into a parking spot just beside the stop sign that I would come to before leaving the parking lot. I got my sandwich and drink and pulled up to the stop sign before going to the movie theater. I looked over her way and mouthed thank you with a huge smile, in which she returned a thumbs up and a huge smile.
I think this affected me the way that it did because working with the public, no matter the setting (fast-food, restaurants, customer service, cashier at Kohl's or the grocery store, or your legal drug dispenser, a pharmacist) can be extremely trying and exhausting. I'll even go so far as to say that it can sometimes make you bitter - not better. People never cease to amaze me by their actions and the words that leave their mouths - and I DO NOT mean amaze me in a positive way. More of a Icantbelievetheyjustsaidordidthat kind of way.
I immediately posted on Facebook what had happened to me and was almost just as surprised that so many of my friends liked it on Facebook.
The next morning upon waking, I began to think some more about what the woman had done. In a psychology course that I took in undergrad it was mentioned a few times that various studies have been (and I'm sure still are) done to see people's reactions/responses to different situations - like if someone were lying "injured" on the street or if an "elderly" person needed help crossing a busy intersection, what would you do? This made me think that maybe this woman was doing something similar - let me do something totally random and kind for someone and see if they even acknowledge it. Perhaps she was doing one of those let me do something to better mankind things for 365 days - an attempt at bettering the world with hopes that each person/thing that she does gets noticed and transcends. Or maybe she was just doing something nice, and expected nothing at all.
Either way, we should all live with this mentality. Maybe she will see this and realize that she affected someone more profoundly than she had planned. Maybe she won't. At the end of the day, we are responsible and will be held accountable for our actions no matter what.
What will you do to pay it forward?
-Suze
