Kindness all around

I was crazy, going to the mall on a Saturday in December with 2 kids.... to make returns. We ran into a problem. We got hungry. So we ventured to the food court. The very busy foodcourt. I made it "simple", ordering food for all 3 of us at the pizza place. Balancing all 3 slices, plus two drinks, on a tray, and 3 shopping bags. Middle attempted to push the stroller, but as he nearly hit 3 people, I grabbed the stroller and, attempting patience, asked him to just walk with me. An older man approached me.

"Can I help you with that?" he asked.

"No, thanks. We'll be..." I replied while looking out at the packed food court and no open tables or chairs. I sighed. "Actually. Yes. I would really appreciate that." I handed him my tray. "Except," I continued, "I don't think there are any tables and I'm not going to ask you to wait. You know what? Maybe we'll just find a place and stand."

"NO!" shouted Middle. "I won't stand!"

"That's okay," the man said. "I'll help you." As we weaved through the food court, he helped steer Middle out of crowds while I weaved and steered Little, the packages and the stroller. Finally, we noticed a table, across the food court, opening up. Middle and the man headed over while I excused myself and tripped over chairs getting there.

When we got to our table, I turned to thank the man. He explained that the last thing he wanted to see, on a busy day during the holidays, was a mom dropping her hungry children's food because it was so crowded. "I didn't want to see you stress. Or your children upset. This was nothing."

Nothing? Nothing? This man did so much more than nothing. He saved me stress. He saved me, likely, tears. "Sir," I said. "Thank you. I really do appreciate it. You're so very kind."

He turned and went to buy his lunch.

Julie Meyers Pron blogs at Just-Precious.com about parenting and education from the eyes of a mom, teacher, and PTO director.