Kindness ― New York-Style, Part 2

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."
― Winston Churchill

I heard a beautiful story yesterday about kindness that happened on the streets of New York almost 14 years ago.

It was a very cold day in New York, just before Christmas.  Having just been through a tough personal time, a man was walking to his job in a restaurant with a $1 in his pocket.  He was hungry and thirsty, and he was looking forward to buying himself a cup of coffee on his way to work.  But he ran into a homeless person who asked him for money to buy coffee.  The man took the $1 in his pocket and bought coffee for the homeless man.  The homeless man fell to his knees and cried and asked "why?"  As much as he had wanted the coffee, the man knew that in 45 minutes, he would be at his job at the restaurant where there would be coffee and food, but he had no idea when the homeless man would eat or get something warm.  "He was on the street," the man said.  And he helped him because he could.

Those moments of connection that kindness brings can be profound.  They lift up the person who receives because he realizes that someone acknowledges him and cares.  And they impact the person who gives because he is reminded that we can all do something and that the kindness we do can truly matter.