there’s a traffic lane outside our grocery store that i need to cross to get to the parking lot.

today as i was about to enter the crosswalk in the traffic lane a car pulled up and stopped preventing me from entering the crosswalk. my initial reaction was good gawd how inconsiderate.  

then the back door opened and a young male teen started getting out. the teen left the car door open and started walking towards the entrance to the store. i took a deep breath and started counting to 10  

when the teen reached the spot where i was standing with my shopping cart he handed me a sealed blue envelope like a birthday card. from the car i hear a woman’s voice say “no johnny put it in the mailbox”.

johnny looked beside me to an area that contained a planter, a garbage bin and the postal box with a confused look on his face. as he was about to put the envelope in the garbage bin the woman in the car said “no johnny put in the mail box”. i said “it’s the red one”.

by this time poor johnny was totally confused and the woman in the car was beginning to exhibit signs of not knowing what to do next saying “usually he can do it”.

i said to johnny “i’ll come with you”. so my shopping cart & i walked with johnny the 7/8 steps to the mailbox after which johnny practically ran to dive into the safety of the backseat of the car while his mother kept apologizing saying usually he can do it. i said it’s ok.

as johnny and his mother drove off and i entered the crosswalk a woman walking toward me said “that was kind of you”. and i thought how 2/3 minutes ago i had thought good gawd at what felt like thoughtless behavior. and yet here we were just those few minutes later 3 mothers supporting each other in kindness. and the amazing thing was no other traffic entered that traffic lane during our interaction.