PAY IT FORWARD....

This winter it snowed - a rarity in Atlanta. By noon, however, the clean white slate had melted to an icy mess. It was around this time that my mom and I ventured out, traveling a good ten miles below the speed limit to avoid an unwanted encounter with black ice. We reached the grocery store and, like the rest of the city, proceeded to stock up on nonperishables. As we made our way to the check-out, I heard a snippet of conversation. An employee led a man down an aisle. The man was dressed in layers, covered with a significant amount of grime, and his shoes were tattered - decidedly homeless. The employee's voice carried to where we stood: "We have some socks down this way."

Her kindness inspired me, for I knew she would not make this man pay. I offered to let the customer behind me, who had fewer items, go ahead. He accepted and I was happy with my small kindness. My mom and I waited and just as our items moved up the band, the employee returned. Her badge marked her as a manager, but she started bagging our items and explained that they were short-staffed because of the ice. She told us that she, too, was late to work, because her son convinced her to pick up a man on the side of the road, who claimed his car was broken down and he needed a ride home. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and worried about the danger, but her son asked her quietly, "What if I were the one stranded in the cold?" That question was enough.

Whenever my faith in humanity is shaken, the woman and her son come back to me, and I know that beauty is everywhere.

Lauren Huff
Atlanta, GA