The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention- Oscar Wilde

It was a snowy day with fast blowing wind. My friend and I were walking down the road, against the windy snow to make our way to Walmart. It was one of those initial days of being an international student in the U.S. After a couple of weeks of enjoying and fulfilling our dream of experiencing a snowy winter, we actually started hating it! We had no choice, but walk in the snow to buy groceries.

As we strolled through the never ending racks of Walmart, we found ourselves converting the price of every item we came across to our currency back home. Typical of someone who just moved to a new country. The conversion and calculations made us realize that the items considered basic, actually turned out to be expensive and vice versa. We wanted to buy a lot of things, i.e., basic grocery stuff, but had to limit ourselves, given our financial situation. For an international student who does not have a job, every dollar counts!

As we continued our stroll through the store, we halted at the dairy and eggs section. I handed over a case of eggs to my friend and asked him to check for any broken ones. To our surprise, when he opened the case, we found this:

We were awestruck!! We jumped out of excitement, happiness, amazement and could not stop smiling at each other. Wow!! This was something I never experienced and such an act happening on an alien land brought in a lot of joy. Our intention of buying as many groceries was fulfilled with that gift card. It meant a lot to us and we were very thankful for this random act of kindness. “God bless those ladies!”, I kept uttering with joy, while my friend couldn’t stop smiling either.

A small act of kindness has definitely made a big difference to us. Kindness knocking your door, when you needed it the most, is extraordinary! It only made me realize the extent of happiness and delight a small act of kindness can bring to others lives. This experience encouraged and reminded me of the need for kindness. As mentioned in the note with the gift card, this random act definitely did brighten our day. It made us realize how lucky and fortunate we were to be a recipient of such kindness during our time of need.

After a satisfied grocery shopping, we headed out to walk back home. “Now I think I’m gonna enjoy the snow again!”, I said with elation, walking effortlessly against the windy snow.