FIDELITY TO KINDNESS

[schlomo]

Fidelity to Kindness

The last time that I rode the bus, I noticed a boisterous, tattered man sitting a few rows from me. After he informed everyone nearby that his name was Andrew, he began incoherently complaining about the injustices of the world. No one paid much attention to him until more people entered the bus at the next stop. One of them, a guy wearing a camouflage outfit, actively engaged with the distressed man. The newly arrived passenger (he said that his name was Fidel) repeatedly asked Andrew if he was hungry. Andrew ignored the question and kept orating about the imminent arrival of fearsome “special forces.” Not deterred, Fidel pulled out a container of food from his backpack and gave it to him. Andrew took the package, but instead of saying thank you, he once more railed against the evils of the universe. When he had momentarily exhausted his wrath, Andrew sincerely thanked his benefactor for his generous offering.

I don’t know what further transpired between the two men because I got off the bus soon afterwards. Was the encounter merely fortuitous, or did Fidel know that Andrew or that someone raggedy like him would be on the bus? In any case, Fidel was a blessing.

We desperately need more people in this world to prove that life is not as bleak as Andrew indignantly proclaimed.