A random act of kindness

I was in Lafayette today, working with my colleague and friend, Dr. Willett, and having another stressful day in what is becoming the most stressful week of my tenure at Bayer. I mean, if I spoke some other language that had another word that meant "stress multiplied exponentially beyond any human understanding," I would use THAT word. But, I am mono-lingual, so work with me here.

Around mid-morning, we stopped at a Wendy's for me to potty. (Yes, I said "potty." After you have kids, you "potty.") She stayed in the car to check voice mail while I made my quick pit stop. As I walked/ran through the door on my way to the restroom (and by "restroom," I mean POTTY), I noticed a young man quietly cleaning tables. And then I noticed that this young man had Down syndrome. I gave him a big smile, which when combined with my statically-charged hair, surely made me look like a crazy woman. I smiled again on my way out and then smiled to myself, hoping that the customers he interacts with are kind and appreciate his efforts. Of course, I was also thinking, "I wonder what Asher will want to do when he grows up?"

Fast forward to the next potty break, which came complete with a sweet tea. (Side note: Jeff always gets SO mad when I stop to potty and buy a drink - which is usually LARGE and way caffeinated - at the same time. He says it defeats the purpose. I think it makes absolutely perfect sense.) Anyway, we were at Chik-Fil-A and ended up sitting in the back corner.

Right after we sat down, Dr. Willett had to go back out to the car. While I was waiting for her to return, I noticed a young man cleaning tables. I had noticed him when we first got there because, like my pal at Wendy's, he also has Down syndrome. After a few minutes, I noticed that he was slowly cleaning his way over to my table. In fact he cleaned his way right up to me, looked at me, and then leaned down and gave me a big hug! I said, "Thank you! Are you having a good day?" He just nodded and cleaned his way back across the restaurant.

Later on, while Dr. Willett and I were talking, Kevin (I read his name tag) cleaned his way right back into our corner. This time he presented each one of us with a peppermint. And then he leaned down and gave me another big hug! I said something like "Well, thank you! You made my day!" He took a couple of steps backwards, stretched out his arms, and with a big grin said, "I don't know why I have to hug. I just like it!" And then he cleaned his way back across Chik-Fil-A.

After he left, Dr. Willett said, "I think he keyed in on you as soon as we got here." I said that maybe it was because I had smiled at him on my way in and maybe not a lot of people look him straight in the eye and smile. Or... maybe he has some sort of six sense that told him (in a spooky voice, I'm sure), "Kevin... This weird woman has a son with Down syndrome." Like all people connected with DS have some sort of radar or secret handshake. Anyway, I expressed some similar thought to Dr. Willett, and she just looked at me and said, "No. He just thinks you're pretty." I thought that was profound, actually.

I know that Kevin's parents must adore him and be so proud of him. I wish I could tell them that their son cheered me up when I thought nothing could.

Isn't that just like my Father? When I feel like I am at my lowest, He shows up. Today, He went out of His way to give me a big hug just when I needed it... TWICE!