Crossing the Street

I was on my way to the gym recently and I came across a gentleman that was trying to cross the street.  This gentleman was in a motorized wheelchair.  He was waiting patiently for the light to turn and give him the go-ahead to get over to my side of the street.  As the light turned, giving him the right of way to cross, he slowly moved his wheelchair into a lane of traffic.  An elderly man driving a BMW down this lane of traffic caught my attention.  It appeared that this man did not see the gentleman in the wheelchair and was moving very quickly right at this man.  With the screech of rubber on pavement, the BMW came to a stop.  The gentleman in the wheelchair reversed his motion and went back to the sidewalk.  If he was shaken up or upset, he did a very good job of hiding it.  He calmly pressed the button to enable him to get a “walk” sign.  By this time, I had made it to the corner that he as crossing over to.  In an effort to get him his light, I pressed the button to cross the street as well.  This time, he made his way across the lane of traffic without incident.  I was waiting for him and he actually laughed at the fact that he had almost met an untimely demise.  This gentleman had lost most of his front teeth, hadn’t had a shave in a couple of days and struggled with his speech but still smiled and seemed to enjoy getting out into this beautiful day.  Being able to see how a man with a much harder life than mine was still able to enjoy his day left me feeling rather sheepish.  I had been bemoaning how hard my life was and how I wasn’t able to do all of the things that I wanted.  This brief interaction with this gentleman made me realize that I had so much to be grateful for and I was missing out on a really wonderful life because I chose to see what I could not do as opposed to all of those things that I could do.

A moment of kindness by the elderly man driving and my small role in getting this man across the street left me with goosebumps.  It was one of those moments that had a profound impact on my day and hopefully in my life.

Have you had a moment in your life that seemed to be rather innocuous but turned out to deeply impact you?

Garrett Jensen