Extraordinary Moments in an Ordinary Life: A Personal Story

I was at the local KFC and ordered my regular 3 piece chicken. Not for myself but for the three stray dogs on my street. I try to give them a treat every week because everyone feeds them measly scraps.

I placed my order and prepared to pay. The workers there looked young and seemed very excited about something. I thought nothing of it (maybe they were motivated workers).

The cashier, a young lady kept smiling broadly.
When she was packing the chicken she was in an animated conversation with another person whose face I could not see.
I had the money ready and proceeded to give it to her.
She said no charge.
I didn’t quite get it and pointed to the amount due on the machine.
She smiled and said it’s been paid for.

Apparently the person whose face I couldn’t see was an ex student of mine. I remembered him as a timid boy.

The school where I had taught for the past 20 years is in a poor neighbourhood. Most of the parents are post workers and/or small scale market traders. I knew this boy was from a poor family, he didn’t excel in his studies although he tried very hard.

I could not accept his generosity.
He had so little and yet he paid for my chicken. But I saw the pride in his eyes, that he could do something, and he kept saying he appreciated all the ways I had helped him in the 2 years I taught him. He said he had a staff card he could swipe and it gives him a discounted price. It’s not much he said.

Still, his moment of generosity affected me and brings tears to my eyes.

What a heart, bless him.

So I came home and ate some of the chicken too, to honour the big hearted, generous boy.
He had so little, just starting out, but he wanted to give back.

Bless.

"People will forget what you did, people will forget what you said, but people will never forget the way you made them feel." _{Maya Angelou}

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