Try a Little Kindness

Life was much different in the mid 1950’s than today. All that I knew about the world was confined to my surroundings on my family’s 60 acre farm, our country store, and the church where my mother took me every Sunday. We had no TV, and the only news from beyond Logan County Kentucky was what we heard on the radio. The only people I knew were those in our neighborhood who came to my father’s store to buy the staples that they could not raise on their farms. At Vic Brady’s store the country folks could get a few grocery items, buy or sell eggs, pick up some chicken feed, purchase their tobacco products, and fill up the gas tanks in their trucks, cars and tractors. For the first three years of my life my parents and I lived in a small room in the back of the store. About a year before my brother was born we moved in with my grandfather who lived across the road from the store. My grandfather died not long after we had moved in with him. The house and the farm became ours after my dad bought his two brothers’ and his sister’s shares of the farm.

I spent a great part of my early years in that country store. There I learned many wonderful lessons about this world and about people. One of the earliest lessons that I remember occurred in late summer of 1954 when I was five years old. The day was extremely hot. My mom, dad, little baby brother and I were alone in the store. We had just finished eating lunch when we heard the most awful noise. We ran outside to see what it was, and in the distance we could see an old black flatbed truck making its way slowly up the road from the north. As it got closer we could see that the noise was coming from the wheel on the left front side of the truck. The driver had a flat and had driven until the tire was completely worn away. The rim was grinding against the rocks and pavement of the road.

When the truck finally pulled into our parking lot I noticed immediately that the occupants were unlike anyone I had ever seen. In the back of the truck I saw a girl and a boy each holding onto crude racks on the bed of the truck. There was also the few belongings that the family owned. In the truck’s cab was a man, a woman and a baby about the age of my little brother. It was obvious to me by the way these people looked and dressed they were not from Logan County or even Kentucky. The man got out of the truck, walked over to my dad, and began talking to him in some type of English I had never heard. Somehow my dad was able to understand what he was saying. The two of them walked around to the back of the store and began looking through some old discarded tires.

The children in the back of the truck climbed down and walked over to where I was standing. I was drinking a Coca Cola. The lady got out of the truck and walked inside the store with my mother. The little girl looked to be about my age. She was wearing a white dress that was badly stained. Her hair was jet black and very long. She had the darkest eyes I had ever seen. I think she was the most beautiful little girl I had ever laid eyes on. Her brother was wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt. Neither of them was wearing shoes. I didn’t have any shoes on either and all I was wearing was a pair of shorts. As far as I could tell the only real difference in us was that I had a coke and they didn’t. I could tell they wanted one even though none of us had said a word. We just stood and looked at each other. The little girl turned and ran over to her dad who was busy taking the wheel off of the truck. I didn’t understand a word she said, but I think she asked him if she and her brother could get a coke. Whatever she said did not please him. She ran back and stood by her brother. I could tell she was disappointed.

I can remember clearly how hurt I was for my new friends. For some reason their disappointment evoked a sadness that I seldom experienced in my safe little world. At that moment I thought the greatest need that these two children had was a coke. I ran inside the store, went behind the checkout counter and stood gazing up at the cash register. Luckily I could see some loose change lying on top of that huge green machine. Stretching on my tiptoes, I was able to pick up one dime, which was all I needed. I knew my dad wouldn’t care because what I was doing was just about the most important thing in the world. I didn’t understand much about money at the time, but I did know that one dime would be enough to buy two cokes. I walked out to where the little girl and her brother were and held the dime so they could see it. I didn’t say a word as I laid the dime down on the ground, turned and walked back inside. Quickly I ran to the window and peeked out to see what they would do. Finally, the little girl picked up the money and ran over to her father. She said something to him and he nodded his head. I was so happy when I saw my little friends with those big smiles on their faces as they drank their Cokes. All was right with the world and I felt good inside.

My mom had been busy fixing some sandwiches for our guests. An old used tire that would fit their truck had been found and put on the wheel. After the sandwiches had been eaten the family loaded up in their truck and continued their journey south. My dad said they were gypsies. They were on their way to the south end of the county near the Tennessee line where it was about time to harvest dark fired tobacco. The children’s dad was hoping to find work on one of the large tobacco farms.

Kindness was the lesson I learned that day. My mom and dad were extremely kind to these strange people. They were poor people trying to survive. My dad didn’t charge the man anything for the old tire or the tire tube that they needed. My mom was very gracious to the lady and to her family by preparing the sandwiches for them. The little girl and I never spoke a word to each other as we played that afternoon, but we communicated just the same. I only knew her for a couple of hours. We waved at each other as the truck rolled out of the parking lot and onto the road. Her big bright smile made me happy. Yes, all was right with the world!

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it”. Hebrew 13:2   (NIV)