A Simple Act of Kindness Can Change Your Life

2020 was, for sure, a rough year for myself, both mentally and physically. From a pandemic in which friends and loved ones were lost and no steady source of income from shutdown jobs, to the mental stresses of being a Black man in a still somewhat racially divided America and dealing with a new normal of remote learning, it definitely was not easy. I found myself in new, uncomfortable situations and different states of well-being that kept my mind filled with grief, remorse, and anxiety. As the days passed, I kept questioning, “Why me?” It became so much easier to focus on the stresses of the bad things in my life.

Towards the end of 2020, one of my best friends, Thad, who I met in my church and grew up with, started his first semester in college. While he was away at school, in Virginia, he received news that his mother had suddenly passed away. Being a single mother, she was all Thad really had in true guidance. With her passing and having to now accept bigger responsibilities back home, he was forced to withdraw from his university and begin working to care for his family. Thad had a full ride scholarship to his arts university, where he would be excelling his craft, but instead had to drop it and put his dreams on hold.

A few days after his mother’s passing, I picked Thad up to help clear his head. I knew he could not hold in feelings and emotions that needed to be released. However, I was still in such a miserable state from the toll of events in my life, throughout the year, that I was not able to give Thad as clear of a focus as I intended. I gently asked Thad if he had eaten at all, to which he responded back shaking his head no. I proceeded to drive him to a local McDonald’s, prepared to pull into the drive-thru to pay for his meal with whatever money I had in my account, but Thad insisted that he run inside to use the restroom and order food, while I wait in the car. With a confused look on my face, I pulled up to the entrance, watched him hop out the car, and run in as I parked.

After about 7 minutes of sitting on my phone, in the parking spot, Thad appeared, knocking on my car window to get in. As he got situated in the seat, he pulled out what food he had gotten, but the bag still looked full. He proceeded to hand me the bag of food, which still had a four piece chicken nugget and medium fry inside of it.

“I know it is not much but I wanted to make sure that you eat too,” Thad kindly said to me, “I really appreciate you picking me up.”

I looked at him in complete awe. Here Thad, going through the grief of his mother’s sudden passing, having to drop his dreams to support his family, and barely having any money to his name, was putting me before himself. In that one moment, I looked within myself at just the type of person I had let these situations throughout the year allow me to become and how truly embarrassing it was. I had let this selfish nature take such a stronghold over me that I had not stopped to realize how other people could have it much worse. Especially how people can have it worse, but still go about their days spreading such love and positivity. I looked up at Thad and hugged him.

In times of confusion, anxiety, and stress, it is completely normal to fall into uncomfortable holes of emotions. Everyone copes with their situations differently. But it is important to remember that no matter how hard things may get, everything is still okay! It is also important to remember that no matter what bad events you may go through, someone somewhere is going through a lot worse and would do anything to have your situations over theirs. Lastly, no matter how you may feel from things in your life, always try to be a positive light in public. You never know how it could help someone else, or ultimately help yourself. Thad did not have to do what he did, but in his simple gesture of treating me to food, knowing his circumstances, it showed me a lot about true love and integrity. All it took was some chicken nuggets and fries to completely change my life, and I am now eternally grateful for the life I am living and the individuals in it!