People Watching

Today I was at the bank. A normal sort of errand, but today I was people watching. There was a lady right behind me waiting for the machine, and a young woman at the counter desperately pleading with the man that there must be something wrong with her account. She had nothing left. The man assured her that there was nothing he could do, and that she should check back the next day to see if it was just some mistake. I have never in my life seen a person's face more devastated or afraid. It made me want to go up to her, and hug her and tell her it was ok, but she was already out the door. As she approached the vehicle, she wiped her tears and glued a smile on her face. The vehicle was a mini-van, with two car seats in the back seat filled with two blonde-haired, blue-eyed children.
So tonight, stranger, know that someone out there is praying for you. And that's a comforting thought. There's a quote that I've read that says " No matter where you are, what you're doing, what you're going through, there's always someone thinking of you".
Another lady, the one behind me in line was trying her best to ensure that her child didn't get any closer to me that he already was. The young boy must have been around seven or eight years old, with wide, curious eyes waiting to take the whole world in. And yet, the woman had her arms wrapped tightly around him, as if her arms were strong enough to protect her son from anything the world might throw at him, no matter how small.
A mother's protection can be such a beautiful thing, how much they care about their children, and how much they want to shelter them from the terrible things this world has come to accept as normality.
Then there was the cashier at the local Safeway. I've see her several times, and she always seems determined to put a smile on at least one person's face. Those kind of people hold so much of my respect. People in the world today are all too concerned in making sure that people are making them feel good, and give little thought into how they can show kindness to other people.
If you think about it, who do you remember the most at the end of a long day? The little petty comments from those determined to bring you down, or the people who took time out of their day to do something special for a stranger. It doesn't have to be a huge thing, in the end, it's the thought that counts, and the very smallest of things can make all the difference in the world.