On my way back home, I was in this transport vehicle and was feeling really exhausted and was about to take a quick nap, seeing how it was going to take a bit of time before I got to my destination, but just as I was about to close my eyes, I remembered an encounter that happened years ago but still makes me feel bad whenever I think about it.
About ten years ago, my mom had decided she wanted to learn a new business, so she had placed me in charge of her old business while she took some time learning the new one. So what that meant was that I was waking up early to go to her shop and then coming back late at night.
I wasn't complaining because it was something I was doing for the family, and it felt right. Well, on one particular Sunday, I had to wake up a lot earlier than usual after coming back home late the previous night because we had to go to church, and I was in charge of playing the drums back then in church.
After the church service, I had immediately hopped on a bus going down to my mom's shop. The plan was to get there, set up everything, get breakfast, and maybe rest if I could. But on that bus ride down to the shop, I had felt exhausted and had rested my head a bit.
The plan had been to just rest myself, but thirty seconds in and I was gone. I was so deep in that sleep that when I woke up, the man sitting right next to me was practically yelling at me to get out of the way so he could get down from the bus.
But him yelling at me wasn't what made me feel bad; it was the fact that he had said, and I quote, “How can someone be sleeping this deep on a bus?” Not only did the words hurt me, but the way he said it too was so derogatory that it immediately made me feel sad for myself.
At that moment, I had wanted nothing more but to explain to him why I was that tired, but I couldn't because it was none of his business and the bus had already driven off. Whenever I think of that moment, I always remind myself that you never know what someone is going through, and we should always try to be kind.
