As I got back in my car, a pleasant-looking young woman of about 20 asked if she could wash my car windows to earn a little money. I was a little flummoxed - the windows actually needed washing but I was in a hurry to get to my next and last stop ( which was Target), so I told her I didn't have the time. She nodded but as she turned away it looked to me like she was trying not to cry.
Boy, I felt terrible for her.
Then as I maneuvered from the Vitamin Cottage into the back entrance to the Target parking lot (the two stores are back to back and share a driveway in the complex), I saw the same woman walking towards the main Target lot. So I pulled up beside her and asked if she'd still be willing to wash my windows. I was going to shop at Target and she could do it while I was there.
The look of relief on her face was like a ray of sunshine. I made some comment about how I hoped I could find a place to park (the lot was packed) and then she spotted someone leaving who was right ahead of us. I parked and she came up and got started while I was getting out of the car. When she pulled her cleaning materials out of the big purse she carried, I was impressed that she was unfolding sheets of newspaper, because not many people know that newspaper is the best thing for cleaning windows.
So, I gave her $2 and went off to do my shopping. When I got back to my car, my windows were nice and clean.
I'm happy that I was able to give someone a little help and a little boost. And I'll always wonder what her story was - what brought her to this point of needing to ask for useful work in a store parking lot?
When I pondered what might have brought her to this, I suspect that she might have been a single mother who perhaps had gotten laid off, and she was trying to raise the money to get something to make her child's Christmas a little brighter. Or perhaps she did have a minimum-wage job, but didn't earn enough to buy something nice for her child. Or maybe she just needed to buy food to get through the end of the month. There's a lot of that going around. In retrospect, I think perhaps being kind to her, and giving her the opportunity to do what she was asking to do, was the best thing I did to help her.
So my holiday message to one and all is - be kind, and extend a helping hand whenever and wherever possible. We never know the kind of struggles that someone might be going through, but we can all know when a little bit of help brings a smile that's like a ray of sunshine.
Note: This blog post is slightly revised from comments I posted yesterday at DailyKos.
Note: This blog post is slightly revised from comments I posted yesterday at DailyKos.