Yesterday I had some very urgent business to take care of, time sensitive, so that's what I did first thing in the morning, after which I decided to go to the farmers market, to stock up my fridge for a few days. I like to buy groceries there as they have pretty much everything and you can buy from meat, dairy products from the big farms as well. This is how I filled my bag and started walking home with like 6kg of goodies.
Photo by Dejan Zakic on Unsplash
The market is at a walking distance, if you're not a lazy couch potato, so it could be a good workout too as on my way home I have to climb a big hill. Stairs could be part of the workout, plus carrying the 6kg bag, so that's exactly what I did. Usually it takes a few minutes to get to the top, but yesterday was different as 20 or 25 minutes was needed.
Wen I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw an old lady with a shopping trolley and the poor lady could barely walk. There was only one possible way to handle the situation and that's exactly what I did. I asked her if I could help and even though she didn't want to look needy, luckily she accepted my help after a few seconds.
Photo by David Becker on Unsplash
We had to stop several times in the way up, she even had some rest on a bench for a few minutes, but we made it to the top eventually. We had a good chat and could see on her face she was happy to spend time with me and was really grateful for the help.
I really felt sorry for her as her shopping trolley was twice as heavy as my bag and honestly, I don't know how much it would have taken her to carry it to the top, not to mention the fatigue and pain that comes after such an effort. It wasn't easy for me to carry that much, but still was way easier than for her and I'd gladly do it again.
Photo by Anastase Maragos on Unsplash
She told me she bought ingredients for a family lunch as kids, grandkids and even great grandkids are coming for lunch. The love and joy in her eyes while telling me this was priceless. The funny thing is, several people passed us and saw me carrying my bag and hers, but no one stopped to help :) I guess we're not the same and in this case it's a good thing. At least I'm happy I did my part in helping and not for me to feel good, but to make others feel good.
Times are changing, people are always in a hurry and even if they are not, helping others is not a priority, unfortunately. This is the norm these days and it's going to get worse.
