Kindness from Strangers: Ray at the Supermarket

People Almost Met: Ray at the Supermarket

This story is one of a series about people whom I have almost met. The stories are about chance encounters with someone that lasts only a brief minute or two, but makes an indelible impression. It’s about encounters that in a small way change my life.

The encounter is too brief for an exchange of names. We may speak or touch, but we haven’t really met—hence the title, “People Almost Met.”

This story is about an elderly gentleman I almost met one day at the supermarket. I never learned his name, so I’m just going to call him Ray because he was like a ray of sunshine to me. 

An elderly man was kind to me.

Read more at http://hubpages.com/literature/People-Almost-Met-Ray-at-the-Supermarket-Smiles-in-the-Aisles

A Little Elf

My son performs as part of Tuba Christmas every year.  Tuba Christmas, in case you don't know, is a group of tuba and euphonium players who provide a free concert in the park located in Winter Park, Florida.  (There are a couple of hundred groups that do similar concerts all over the country.)  The band played all the traditional holiday music which was great for eliciting that holiday spirit.

Above you see the first paragraph of the essay. The essay continues to describe how I encounter a young boy dressed in an elf costume hainding out candy.  I explain why he made a lasting impression on me. 

© Catherine Giordano 2011

A Beautiful Woman

I was at my local Publix supermarket last Sunday. I often stop off there on my way home from church because I pass it on my way home.  I always try to go to the supermarket on my way home from someplace else--It saves time, car mileage, and gas.

Above you see the first paragraph of the essay. The essay continues to describe my encounter with an elderly man in one of those electric go-carts used in supermarkets.  The man makes a brief remark to me and then scoots away.  The remark makes my day.

    

© Catherine Giordano 2011

Second Chances

I love to swim at the Blanchard Park YMCA outdoor pool during the warm weather months.  The pool has an “L” shape.  The long part of the “L”  has seven lanes for swimming --six lanes for lap swimming and the last lane which includes the base of the “L” is reserved for “recreational swimming”.  The lap swimming lanes begin with a depth of four feet and gradually increase to six feet at the end.  The base of the “L” has three steps leading into the water running along the outer edge and is only three feet deep.   This is the area where young children play.

Above you see the first paragraph of the essay. The essay continues to describe how I save a young girl, about 5 years old, from drowining.  This moment is especially important to me because of an event that happened to me when I was a child involving the near-drowning of another child.

A Tyke with a Trike

I’m in my car stopped at a traffic light at about 7 pm.  It’s a beautiful April night in Orlando, Florida. The skies are clear and the sun is still shining.  It won’t get dark for another hour or two.  A very small boy, a three or four year old perhaps, enters the cross walk.  He is sitting astride a little plastic tricycle.  The trike is bright orange and blue. 

Above you see the first paragraph of the essay. The essay continues to describe how the little boy is so delighted with his trike and the beginnings of independence that it offers him.  It ends with me imagining him as a young adult ,riding in a shiny red sports car, but just as delieghted.

© Catherine Giordano 2011

Swim Baby Swim

I finished swimming my laps at the indoor pool at Winter Park Florida YMCA.  As I was leaving, my attention was attracted by the howls of a very young child.  She was wailing and clutching her mother's sweater as as the mother tried to pass the baby to a swim instructor already in the pool. The swim instructor is a young woman in her early twenties with a blond pony tail, wearing a blue wet suit.  The mother finally pries the baby loose and passes her to the instructor.

Above you see the first paragraph of the essay. The essay continues to describe the baby's swimming lesson.  As I watch, the baby begins to learn to swim despite screaming her head off.  I imagine how these lessons might one day save her life.

© Catherine Giordano 2011

True Grit

His face is contorted into a grimace.  His lips are stretched taut so that the corners of his mouth practically reach his ears.  His perfectly white, very uniform, upper and lower teeth are bared.

Above you see the first paragraph of the essay. The essay continues to describe a young man I observed at the gym, a relatively slight young man, who is lifting a lot of weight.  I admire this man for working so hard and showing true grit. 

© Catherine Giordano 2011