Saturday morning we were out for a family 10K, just trotting along the usual route, when a small Jeep slowed down as it approached us.
The driver had a big smile on her face and two fluffy dogs, a small white Poodle-type and a large black Muppet-type on-board. As they pulled over, the little white doggo stuck his face out the window and gave our kids a nod. The bigger one was a little more high-strung, bouncing around the backseat, so he didn’t get the window treatment.
“I see you guys EVERYWHERE!” said the driver with a huge smile. “So cool,” she continued, “I LOVE that breed.”
“Thank you,” we humans yelled, in a near annoying unison.
And she waved and was gone.
Steve and I laughed. Maybe she thought the kids were Dalmatians or Pitties or Springers, it didn’t really matter. It was just kind.
And here I am, several days later, still thinking about that 10 seconds of kindness and still smiling. So why am I telling you this?
Say the thing.
You know when you see a stranger and like her hat or his shoes or their dog whatever, but keep it to yourself? Compliment the stranger. Take 10 seconds and say the thing.
It’s probably a combo of the weirdness of the past few years and the fact that my dad’s death is just a several months in the past, so it’s the first holidays with no LarBear, but hearing something kind from someone with absolutely nothing to gain from it was freaking awesome.