What’s an encounter you had or saw that highlighted the good in people?

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1. Oh there’s so many. Every time, i feel so good when something like that happens. And its always the little things. Yesterday a middle aged guy approached me in the grocery store, he didnt speak english well, and he asked me if the mushrooms on sale were good and clean and i helped him pick out a nice clean batch. its the little stuff

2. We are currently on strike at my job. All day, folks driving past the picket lines beep their horns in support, nearby businesses are treating us really well, and random folks keep dropping off food to us. Striking isn’t easy, but it’s certainly reminding me of the good in folks.

3. Honestly there are countless. But, the most formative for me is having had the privilege of seeing all of the generous and selfless volunteers (and locals) who showed up immediately after Hurricane Katrina. I lived on the Gulf Coast at the time and my town was completely devastated. Seeing people from all over the country come immediately, just pick up and drive down overnight to give of themselves was incredible. I feel blessed that I got to witness the selfless human spirit and even years later, I’m still so incredibly grateful to each one of them.

4. Last Christmas, my mother and I went to a gas station near our house (and the only one that was open) to get some special drinks and stuff for the holidays. We went in, got what we needed to get, and got into line, where, surprisingly, there was a lot of people. When we went to pay for our things, the cashier at the counter looked a little surprised at first, but then she smiled at us and said, “a gentleman already paid for your drinks.” It was something small, but nonetheless it made me smile to see the good in people, and it definitely made my day.

5. Probably the biggest one in my life was a flight down to Panama City, FL, for my grandma’s memorial service.

   I was flying Allegiant, which is a budget airline and thus only has contracts at a limited number of airports. We were supposed to land at the Fort Walton airport, but after 2 tries at the runway, the pilot had to give up because of sea fog. So at 11 o’clock at night, we landed in Tampa instead–a 6 hour drive from Panama City. This was on a Friday night, and I at least had till Sunday to make it there, but since my rental car was at the Fort Walton airport–and literally everything else was sold out because it was spring break–I was looking at several hundred dollars extra in transportation costs.

   My seatmates were a retired AF pilot, John, who was on his way back from a business trip, and a gal my age, Katie, who also needed to get to Panama City. We got to talking and agreed that getting a rental car together to make the drive back to PC made the most sense. John insisted on paying the full price, since as he said he could write it off as a business cost.

   We finally ended up getting a hotel, for a few hours shut-eye, halfway up the coast around 1 in the morning. John negotiated a discount for us, and he took one room and Katie and I took the other.

   We made the rest of the drive the next morning; I say we, but John drove the whole way, keeping us entertained with stories and fed with snacks and plenty of rest stops. We exchanged contact information at the Fort Walton airport, since his out-of-state work is literally right across the street from my job, and have kept in touch ever since.

6. I was at a grocery store heavily pregnant with two small children with me. I realized I had forgotten my purse, so I could only shop with the cash I had with me (around $90). I was carefully choosing what to buy and had to tell my children no to a lot of things. When I got to the register, my items were scanned. I had just enough cash to pay when suddenly a woman ran up, swiped her card to pay for my stuff, saying “Jesus made me do it!” as she scampered off. I was stunned and vowed to pay it forward. I have easily spent several thousands of dollars paying it forward since then. The baby I was pregnant with turns 21 tomorrow.

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8. I have extremely bad anxiety, i’m always looking down and can only take quick glances at people. On top of not being able to talk to others well, this time I was in the doctors office alone (Which I didn’t do often) he could see I was fidgety and nervous so he got on one knee to talk to me. The way he spoke to me was so soft and kind, i’ll never forget this interaction.