Doins!

So yesterday I had to go to the store for a few random things. On my list:


A steering wheel cover
Wipes
Candy cane oreos
Magic erasers
Unisom

How's that for a random list? Anyhow, while we were shopping, Addison informed me that she would like some chicken for lunch, so we headed on over to the deli counter to get some, because heaven knows I am nowhere near ambitious enough to cook chicken for LUNCH. I'm lucky if I can work up the energy to make it for dinner. Anyway, while I was standing there ordering, Addison started chattering away to an elderly man beside us. Lets also keep in mind that she was very respectably dressed in a red skirt and black sweater.......... and Snow White costume shoes. I got our food and picked up Addison, and just as we turned to leave the little old man stopped us and tucked something into Addison's hands. He was shaky and at least 85, but he had a huge grin on his face and he said, "Here little girl, this is for you. You've just made my day. You go buy a treat." He oohed and ahhed over her shoes for another moment, before saying goodbye. Addison yelled out thank you, and we looked to see what he had handed her. It was two dimes, and two pennies.

$0.22.

Of course Addison was thrilled to have "doins" as she called them, and I melted into a puddle of goo at the thought of this sweet old man giving Addison some change to buy a little treat just because she made him smile. It made me so grateful that 1) I have this sweet little daughter who can brighten someone's day and 2) That there are still little old men in the world out there that appreciate a little toddler dressed up in her Snow White shoes.

I just feel like our society has become so cynical and pessimistic. We are so busy looking for the bad in people, worrying about the worst case scenarios, that sometimes we might miss a small exchange between a two year old and an 85 year old man. They don't know anything about eachother's political affiliations, they don't know eachother's stance on gay marriage or the state of the economy. Instead, there was an unlikely connection between them because they were simply people in a store that enjoyed eachother's company. What a world we would live in if everyone were to be as unabashedly open and vulnerable as a toddler and a senior. Maybe it just goes to show that we'll never completely understand people in general unless it's at the very start or the very end of our lives.

We probably won't ever see him again, but we'll never know what was going on in his life, if he had grandchildren or was all alone that day, for him to be touched by a little child in a store. And he won't know how touched I was that he took time out of his day to make Addison feel special.

We took the two dimes and two pennies home with us in Addie's sweaty hands and I dug out an old piggy bank I'd bought years ago, and we put the money in. Addison was thrilled to have her own piggy bank with her own "doins" in it, and I'm happy because now I can't stand the thought of spending that $0.22 on anything less than extraordinary.