I have been searching the net for some good links to post on the kindness of strangers and in the process I have read some very interesting scientific papers, socio-psychology articles, blogs and zines on the subject, but none of them was quite what I was looking for. So I decided to just post my own example of how a total stranger helped me at a time I was in great need, and ask you to post any examples of your own that you have experienced as a recipient of kindness.
When my daughter was two years old, she got very very ill with a stomach bug which caused her to have severe gastroenteritis. She could not hold anything down and ran high a fever that I just could not break. I had several years experience in pediatrics and was, at the time, working for a pediatric multi-specialty clinic. It was not long before I recognized the signs of dehydration in her despite all my best efforts to make it all well. I took her right away to her doctor who agreed my girl needed to be admitted to the hospital to start IV fluids and run lab tests to treat her most effectively. Laurie was in the hospital for a week, and in all that time, I left her side only once to go home and shower. I was trying to make ends meet as a single parent and couldnt make my bills as it was, so missing work was a problem, but one I would think about after she was out of the hospital. I was no stranger to healthcare and I knew that everytime a nurse walked in to draw labs, every time the attending physician made rounds and looked at her chart, every time she was given a dose of tylenol, it was all money I did not have and likely would not have. I had insurance, but it was not going to cover very much of this bill.
When I went back to work, one of the doctors I worked for called me into his office. (right about this time, I had had my purse stolen from my car in the daycare parking lot and the thieves made off with the entire contents of my bank account....all $50 of it, and I was driving with an expired tag on my car because I couldnt afford to get the tag renewed)--(did I mention it was almost Christmas?) and he told me that he had talked to his wife and they wanted to help me out financially, help me get things back on track. And although it certainly sounded tempting, as he sat there with his checkbook open, I could not accept it. I knew I would make it somehow or another. We werent going to die from being broke, and if we werent dead, well that was a win. haha!!
I waited and waited for the hospital bill, already planning on talking to the billing department about setting up a payment plan. But the bill never came. Afraid it was going to the wrong address, I called the hospital only to find out that the bill had been taken care of already. There was no balance at all. When I told them I had not paid it, therefore it could not be taken care of, she assured me that it had been. She had no idea who had paid it or how.
I suspect it was the doctor I worked for, but he denied he had anything to do with it.
And not long after that, I got a call from the mayor's office. I had written them a letter complaining about the outrageous $200 "impact fee" that was required for people who were getting a tag for their car when moving from out of state. I couldnt afford it and I thought it was a stupid thing to do to earn city revenue ...penalizing people for moving to the area. The mayor's office asked me to come downtown, and instead of arresting me for sending such a rude letter, they had a lady there who was making out checks to pay my rent and utilities for the next month so I could not only get my tag but also afford to buy Laurie some things for Christmas. (I was okay with taking money from the mayor's office since they took mine first, LOL!)
I will not forget those two events and the way my life challenges were made less daunting by the kindness of strangers.
If anyone else has incidents they care to share, I'd like to hear them....
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