YA' JUST CAN'T TELL BY LOOKIN'

I meant to post this Friday, but I didn't get around to it until tonight...

This evening while in Walmart, I observed this group of young adults, 3 guys and 2 girls, walking around laughing and being for lack of a better word, goofy. Yeah, I know that word sounds like something my mother would say, but I really can't think of a better descriptor. Anyways, I didn't think much about them as I was just that age not too long ago (yes that's right, not too long ago) and could remember acting "goofy" on occasion. I know that is hard to believe, but it is indeed true. Well, the one difference I could see between me and my friends then, and these kids now was their attire. I realize the 80s was not a good fashion decade so stop laughing, but nonetheless, my point is that these kids' wife beaters, hats and baggy shorts along with their tattoos might have caused some people to form negative opinions of them just by their appearance.

As I was finishing loading my purchases into my jeep, I could hear them walking out behind me. I shut the back door and saw them walk by. Then what I saw next is why I am writing this blog tonight... There was a lady finishing loading stuff out of her cart into her car just as the kids walked past her. One of the boys runs over and says to her "I will get your cart." She looked a little surprised, as was I to be perfectly honest. He then brought it over and put it in the cart return and then ran back over to his friends and kept on talking and having fun. I don't see this type of kind behavior and respect from very many young people these days so I wanted to be sure to credit this young man, although I do not know him, for his random act of kindness. It encourages me to keep working with my students (and employees for that matter) to teach them that being nice matters and that treating people with kindness and respect is a characteristic that will get them much further in life than being rude and disrespectful. And in this world we live in today, it was just refreshing to see someone showing kindness to another person.