I am packing up and getting ready to leave. I put the keys on the table. I look in my wallet for tip money for the maid. All I have is a $10 bill. This is more than I usually would leave. Usually I would leave $2-3. I decide that I just won't leave a tip this time. I feel bad about that but I am not leaving $10.
About that time there is a knock at the door. Knock knock, who's there? The maid, wanting to know if I was still here. She had come to clean the room.
And so I meet her face to face. She is no longer just an abstract idea in my mind that I might leave a tip for, she is a real person. She is short, about 4' 10' probably from Jamaica based on her accent. She is my age at least. She asks me when I will be leaving, I ask her if she is the maid. She agrees to come back later.
Now my decision on whether or not to leave the $10 is influenced by the fact that I have actually met the person in person and seen a bit of her life situation. I grabbed my wallet and gave her the $10. I should have left it anyway but it is amazing how when we take a moment to actually engage with a human being, our feelings about them change. They become real, they become more valuable to us.
I hope that in the future I will just be nice to people even if I don't see them. Everyone appreciates kindness, and I should give them kindness whether I know them or not.
Shouldn't we all.
It is a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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I am leading a trip to Ireland in July this year. If you are interested in reading about it, or joining in, the link is below.....
Treasures of Ireland
July 13-22, 2020
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