The Kindness of Strangers by Barbara Quinn

Blanche DuBois of A Streetcar Named Desire is famous for the line, "I've always relied on the kindness of strangers." Unlike Blanche, most of us don’t depend on the kindness of strangers, but when a stranger provides us with an unexpected kindness, what a sweet gift it is. (Full disclosure here: I have to admit I also think of Woody Allen playing Blanche DuBois in the movie Sleeper whenever I hear that "kindness of strangers" line.)

I was running late, again, and the supermarket was incredibly crowded. I only had a few items in my hands. I scanned the lines. Darn. There was no checkout relief in site. Even the self-checkout lines were three deep. I took a deep breath, found a shortish line, and resigned myself to the wait. The woman in front of me caught my eye and I said, “What on earth is going on today? Everyone must have gotten the memo to go to the A&P at the same time.” She smiled and said, “Why don’t you go ahead of me.”

Oh wow. I did not expect that, even though I often let people go ahead of me when they have only a couple of items.

I hesitated and she said, “It’s fine. Really.” I thanked her. And I thanked her again when I’d finished. It was so nice to have someone do me a favor.

Sure there are a lot of sour pusses out there. It’s so much better to remember the encounters with the good-hearted souls like the supermarket lady. That little exchange left me in a good mood for hours. Here’s to those who take the time to do a little kindness.

The Kindness of Strangers by Nannette Croce

It’s sunny and 65 degrees. The next few days promise chilly rain. I want to work in my yard, take the dog for a walk, but, instead, I’ve spent the better (or should I say worst) part of this glorious day wrangling with the IRS.

My husband has a small business for which I do the bookkeeping. To make a painfully long story short, the IRS wants to penalize me for paying my withholding late, when, in reality, I’m paying early. It’s a system glitch. In the past I’ve made a call. The person on the other end adds a note to the system. I don’t pay the penalty. All is well. But today I ran up against a brick wall. The fellow I talked to refused to even consider my explanation and insisted I must have missed a payment somewhere.

I’m usually the essence of patience with people who deal with the public. I once paid medical claims. I know what a bad day feels like. But this fellow frustrated me nearly to tears until I ended up agreeing to pay both the penalty and an extra tax payment just to end the ordeal.

After several deep breaths and some lunch, I decided to take another crack at it. This time I got a lovely woman who went through my payments month by month for three years and cleaned up the problem once and for all.

Too late for yard work or even to walk the pooch, I settled for opening a window and reading a magazine. That poor woman had another hour ahead of her answering angry taxpayers and cleaning up someone else’s mistakes.

She kept her good humor though I bet few people take the time to thank her.

I’m glad I did.