The Aware Author – Kindness

Red van

Red van – pixabay

It was just a little thing, really.

You see, this morning, I walked to work, as usual. It was just a normal day, no rain, no wind, overcast gray sky, and with normal temperatures. A day so normal that it was almost painful.

I cross quite a few streets on my walk, too. Some are big, with traffic lights, some are small. And there is a small one where the sidewalk just continues across that street, making it so that pedestrians tend to simply walk on and that drivers almost automatically give them the right of way.

While I got closer to that point in my walk, a man in a large van pulled out of that street and stopped right in the middle of the sidewalk, for a left turn across a four lane street. Of course, he had to wait for the cars to pass, and then for a bunch of bikers.

All that time, I was getting closer. And behind me, someone with a longboard was catching up to me. I started to wonder how this would play out. (And honestly, I hate it when I have to wait for a car to get out of my way on a sidewalk.)

The guy in the van threw in the reverse and pulled back, to let us pass. And I gave him a grateful nod and a smile, and he nodded and smiled back.

That’s all.

But it made me feel happy. It created a momentary connection between me and that driver – a good one. The next time I see that particular van, which is likely, since it’s a delivery guy for an old peoples’ home in that street, I’ll probably smile again.

And this is exactly the kind of random encounter that makes stories believable. That can lead to much more, and even serve as introduction of a new character.

A little moment of kindness on a normal morning.

And so much more.

About Hannah Steenbock

Hannah Steenbock is an author, dreamer, and coach. She has published several short stories in English and German, as well as one novel in German. In 2013 she started self-publishing her work. In 2014, she has won two awards for her short story "Sequoia".
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