Pickles

Have you ever stopped to think about those little things you do for the people in your life? You know, those small acts of kindness that you do just because?

What, you haven’t? Well, to be honest, I never have either until just a few days ago.

My wife had gone grocery shopping and picked up a jar of pickles for me. I love pickles. I could eat pickles on just about anything, or on their own as a side item. I can picture it in my mind; we are at a nice steak house.

Me: “I’d like the rib eye.”

The server: “And your side sir?”

“Hmm, should I go with the salad or the baked potato? I know . . . pickles.”

“Pickles it is.”

My wife knows I love pickles but I never stop to think about asking her to make sure that they are on the grocery list. If something is on my wife’s grocery list, it is as good as bought. You see, she loves lists like I love pickles.

Anyway, she came home and I was helping her put away the groceries. I found the pickles and thanked her profusely. I was already planning on my first helping of pickles.

A few days passed, and to be honest, I forgot all about the pickles. It was a frustrating few days with challenges at work and at home.

Let’s fast forward to Saturday morning. I was a little bit grumpy. Ok, I was ill, as we would say in Kentucky. Nothing was going right. My wife was off on a photography shoot. (Even though she could be a model, she is normally found on the other side of the camera. Check out her website at laurasmemories.webs.com.) The boys were being boys and the dogs needed to go out.

I let the dogs out and was standing in the backyard grumbling to myself about the day. I realized I was hungry and all of a sudden I remembered the pickles!

Such joy flooded my heart. It was like someone was giving me a big hug. My ill mood flew away as if it had never been there.

Who would have thought that a simple act of kindness like buying pickles would be able to change the entire direction of someone’s day?

It’s no wonder that these simple acts of kindness are important to us as humans. We need the simple common courtesies in our life to remind us of love. Think about the last time you held a door open for a lady or when someone held the door for you. That simple act of kindness probably made you smile.

Be kind to each other. Remember those small acts of kindness that can make the gloomiest day into a great day.

Oh, and that turkey sandwich with pickles was the best sandwich ever. I wonder if there are any pickles in the fridge. . .