Like many college students, I spent the majority of my summer working so that I would have enough money to spend (and save) when I go back to school. Most of my peers either work customer service jobs or at summer camps since they're more flexible than a lot of other jobs. As for me, I work at a local family-owned restaurant when I'm on break from school, which is an aspect of the restaurant that a lot of customers are drawn to. However, there was one day in particular that I was working that I got to witness how this close-knit community has helped someone in an effort to preserve this value of familial bonds.
One day while I was working, I sat down to eat my dinner before my closing shift when I noticed an older man sitting by himself who I had seen dining there on other occasions. He usually talks to other employees whenever he's there about what life was like in our town decades ago, among other things. As I was eating my dinner, I also noticed that there was a family of four sitting at a table near both this particular customer's table and my table. A few minutes after I made this observation, the two children, who were between the ages of 8-12 years old, walk up to the older man and tell him that they paid for his dinner.
Now, when I first heard this statement, I was initially shocked because I've never witnessed a moment like this before. The older man had also felt the same way and was visibly grateful that they had paid for his dinner, but he insisted that he wanted to pay them back. However, the children refused and told him that they didn't want the money. The parents of the children then walk up to him and tell him how the children wanted to pay for his dinner, which led to a conversation that lasted for about 15 minutes and ended with the mother saying that she hopes to see him in the restaurant again.
As I was still sitting and eating my dinner, I was in awe that I was able to witness this moment of genuine kindness, but I was sad that the moment was fleeting. However, this brief period of sadness at this fleeting moment passed seconds later when another customer went up to this customer to have a conversation.
While I was unsure of what specifically motivated this customer to talk to the older man, I had hoped that it was out of genuine kindness. As soon as the customer started a conversation with the older man, he decided to sit down at the table and mentioned how he always sees him at the restaurant. This comment then caused them to continue their conversation about the town and then they talked about their families. After about ten minutes of conversation, the man who sat down at the table says that he has to leave with his family. However, his next statement was one that stood out to me more than anything else that had occurred that night, which was that he would invite the older man to sit with him if he saw him at the restaurant again.
It was moments like this one that I just so happened to witness that had me thinking about the nature of life. How many of these types of moments have I missed just by arriving somewhere too early or too late? How many of these types of moments could have happened that never happened because I was so scared to talk to someone sitting alone in a restaurant or in any social setting? I realized that no matter what happens in life, it is always important that we help others because that is one of the main things that will matter in the end.
