Sorry, she said, and sorry she repeated. Not once, but multiple times.
She was pulling out of a parking spot, and I was looking to pull in. A big smile on her kind face as she explained, apologetically, that the spot was reserved. Which, once she pulled out, I could see for myself. A big sign.
Another spot was clearly available, but before I could pull into it, a little woman came rushing out.
“So sorry, so sorry! We need to bring a patient out, and we need a space for the wheelchair.”
“No problem!” I said. “No need to be sorry!”
What a world!
If you read enough social media, you might begin to believe that the human race is made of cruelty and little else. And you would be partly right.
There are days I’m so cynical, I surprise myself.
But then how do I account for this morning? Kindness spilling out, overflowing, reinforcing itself. One person extending it to another, who extends it to another. No grand gestures, no declarations. Just ordinary human beings taking care not to inconvenience one another.
I’m on a journey today.
Dentist and skin doctor, an hour or so from home.
I scheduled them both on the same day, because once I’ve got to drive 45 minutes, I might as well go the extra 30. Interesting logic.
It’s a pretty drive. Ocean sparkling in the distance, turquoise jewels conveying themselves into places within me that I cannot even track.
But by day’s end, I am beyond exhausted. Too many people, too many choices, too much chaos. Too much speed.
The island has changed enormously in tempo since we returned, post-Covid. Everyone seems to be in a rush now. No time, no time.
Tailgating is relatively new here, and it has become pervasive. I have to account for extra time to get from here to there, because I have to pull over multiple times to let the speeders pass.
I wonder what everyone is rushing toward. Or away from.
Come to Hawai‘i? Why not leave your mainland habits behind? Isn’t that part of the meaning of vacation?
And yet, in a parking lot this morning, two women were falling all over themselves apologizing for the smallest inconvenience. Neither had done anything wrong. Both were simply thinking of someone else.
On the highway, people seem determined to get ahead of one another. In the parking lot, two women were making room.
Perhaps that’s why their kindness stays with me.
Not because it was extraordinary.
Because it shouldn’t be.