Mirrored Back

/ Jessica

I’m a huge fan of catching the way light bends at a thousand different angles and reflects back on a surface, say glass or water for instance. Nature has such a extraordinary way of catching what it sees. Simplicity at its finest.

Sometimes life can be similar: do something kind for someone, they see it, and kindness is reflected back.

Well….. yesterday I had an interesting experience with kindness and I’m feeling a nudge to share it here. It’s so not my normal post, but sometimes the lessons live in places rarely seen.

So yesterday, my friend had a yard sale. When it was over, there was a lot of stuff left. We loaded it up in my pickup and her car and she knew a place in town we could take it.

I arrived first. I had a really uneasy feeling when I got out and put my tailgate down. There was a sign in the window mentioning video cameras and I looked up and saw two.

Video cameras. In a little tiny town. At a little place with a donation box out front. Hmm.

I took two of the bags over to the donation box, set them down, then stopped because I felt SO uncomfortable.

Video cameras and donations?? I mean, I know I’m old fashioned, but that just seems so contradictory to me.

I decided to wait until my friend arrived. Our kids were with us and they helped us fill up the donation box with items we don’t need anymore to help someone else out.

The reflection.

Like light hitting water and mirroring an image, the kids see kindness, then grow up and are kind.

We finished and got in our vehicles to leave. I had the windows rolled down and kiddos sitting in my pickup, when really nice truck pulled up. I thought they were there to make a donation, too. Cool!

Ummmm… no.

In a mean voice, the words that burst out of the driver’s mouth had me confused at first.

“Are you stealing out of that box?”

Did I say mean? Because it was mean and demanding and he was talking to ME.

You know those moments where you want to turn around and see if they’re talking to someone behind you? Nope, nobody back there.

It took a few seconds for his words to register. Someone was actually accusing me of stealing. Not only that, but stealing out of a donation box we had just filled.

It’s a long story, but the couple in the truck run the place, say they have people who steal, and evidently assumed I was doing the same.

Believe it or not, it ended on a friendly note. After we explained that we had just filled the box and they explained their position and apologized, we went our separate ways, but the lessons still linger.

What bothers me the most is the kids just had this super cool experience of giving their things to help someone else out, then heard all the rest. The windows were down….

So, will this stop me from being kind and making kindness generational? Not likely. I was raised being taught to share and help others when I can, I mean, isn’t that what life is about? We show how kindness works to our kids, they show their kids.

Weird things happen and sometimes people can be completely unreasonable, but maybe it’s good to just keep carrying on. To keep doing what we do, in the ways we do it. Because we never really know when our kindness can change someone’s life.

Want to know the really cool thing about that? Its not up to us to know who that someone is.

Who knows, maybe the next kind soul who pulls in and fills a donation box will be met with grace and gratitude, which is what would be lovely to see, mirrored back.

20 thoughts on “Mirrored Back”

    • Franscescaaaaaaaaa!!!! Oh, how I miss you!!! Thank you for your kind words. I left Facebook like a month ago and I miss seeing your posts! How are you? Did your house sell? How are all your animals? Did your daughter have her baby?

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    • Thank you, Sylvia. It was not a situation I’d want to be in again. Thank you- it really bothered me that the kids heard. But, I guess it’s an opportunity to tell them that sometimes people say stuff, then can apologize. Many lessons. ❤️Hope you’re doing well.

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  5. I suppose their frustration with people stealing out of the donation box simply spilled over into an over-reaction. I have heard of this. People steal donations, then sell what can be sold on eBay and throw the rest into a landfill. Very callus, selfish and sad.

    I can see where people trying to run a charity get upset, still they should be more tactful – but hey, we all have our moments.

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    • Good point- we all have our moments. And, I hadn’t heard of the ebay thing. That’s crazy- that someone even thought of that. I used to run the free store at our old town and one time I heard that someone was taking free stuff and selling it in garage sales. That was a bit hard to hear, but I figured the free stuff was just making its way to whoever needed it and somebody must really need money.

      I used to empty the donation box where I ran that free store and would pull out the sizes I knew the school kids needed and then had to just unattached to the rest of it.

      I appreciate your comments, love your perspective. As for my stuff I put in there, I was just happy to pass it along. Hopefully whoever needs it will get it eventually. :)

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  6. There is kindness in the world and there is nastiness. Sad, with your children near you were accused of stealing. I think the couple that said such unkind things should ask questions in a nice way before they accuse someone of stealing. I guess we need to remember the scripture about turning the other cheek. I try very hard to project kindness back to un-nice people. Sometimes they apologize and sometime they do not. Good to see a post from you Jessica

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    • Hey, friend. ❤️ Thank you for reading. I agree. Kindness tends to go so much farther than the opposite. My hope is that, that situation doesn’t happen to someone else. It was not fun. I love what you said about how you try to project kindness to not-nice people. Huge lesson in that. And thank you. Writer’s block and I have somewhat become besties. It was nice to write again. Hope you are doing well. ❤️

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      • I am plugging along. There is so much hatefulness in this world – yet there are so many nice people that go out of their way to help others. I worry about the future for our children and grandchildren. Hugs and love to you – smile and the world smiles with you.

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  7. We had an experience similar to that at an auction several years ago. We purchased a random pile of stuff that included a box of fabric. As we were putting it on our pickup after paying for it a gal drove up and started hollering at us that we had stolen her fabric. I know for a fact it was ours but I gave it to her anyway because she was so nasty. I often wonder what she had stashed in that random box before the sale that had her all wound up. It bothered me for days but then I realized it was not my problem to carry and I then felt sorry for her.
    Stay kind….it makes life so much better.
    Love those photos also!

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    • Hi Faye, oh my goodness!!! First of all, isn’t it alarming when strangers are spitting out unkind words? And, second, bravo to you for handing the fabric over, even though it was yours. That reminds me of Wayne Dyers saying “You can be right, or you can be kind. Plus, now you’ve got me wondering what was under the fabric! Ha ha.

      I love what you said about it not being your problem to carry. I was thinking about that as well. What happened yesterday is not a reflection of me, so I’m choosing to just let it go. You’re right, life IS so much better when kindness is on board.

      And, thank you. I took those pictures two days ago at a little conservation area near us. It was such a beautiful day. Hope your summer is going well! Miss you!! PS I’m still off Facebook. I think it’s been like 5 or 6 weeks already! ❤️

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