Stories of Kindness from Around the World

One afternoon last summer I was driving along on my way home when I noticed a woman at the roadside near the edge of town struggling with a wheeled suitcase. There was no sidewalk, only grass, and she was having a rough way to go.

I pulled over to a nearby parking lot to watch her. I suspected that she was headed to the homeless shelter across the street. As it became apparent that she was on her way somewhere I continued to observe. She appeared to be in her fifties and was dressed very conservatively, a skirt nearly to her ankles, a blouse, and a lace shawl around her shoulders. In truth I was not only assessing her situation but whether or not she had the potential to harm me if I intervened.

After a couple of minutes I turned around, pulled the car up next to her and offered her a ride. She accepted. Her story was vague but she did share that she had been traveling for a while and that strangers had helped her along the way. Her destination was a city about three hours drive from where we were and it didn't sound as though she had a place to go there. I offered to take her to the half way point and she accepted.

Along the way, we stopped for food and drink for her which she insisted on paying for with her own money. When we the reached the town I had agreed to take her to she asked if we could stop at a grocery store.

I was touched that by this time she had developed enough trust in me to leave her suitcase in the car while she shopped. While she was inside I located a Holiday Inn nearby and called ahead to see if there were vacancies; I explained my rather unusual situation to the person on the other end of the phone.

Upon her return from the grocery store, I shared what I had done and she accepted my offer of a room for the night. We drove to the hotel and the kind young woman there provided what discounts she could as well as a room with a refrigerator. She stated that she was touched and that "people don't do this kind of thing".