Perfect Strangers

"Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people - your family, friends, co-workers and even strangers you meet along the way."... Barbara Bush

I am always particularly touched by the kind acts of strangers.  Even the smallest, simplest gestures like a little nod of hello or holding the door for us never go unnoticed by me.  I have found since having a child with autism, the small things are actually really big and make all the difference.

Last weekend, my son and I went water-sliding together at Ontario Place.  We had to climb several staircases to get to the top of the biggest and most exciting slide and it involved a lot of waiting for our turn.  My son was very good about the wait, but of course was getting rather excited as the time passed.  As our turn came up, a lady with her young daughter asked the attendant if her daughter could ride in the raft with someone as she wasn't able to ride with her.  He asked if it was ok that the girl ride with us, and I just wasn't comfortable with the sudden change in my son's plans..so I very discreetly began to explain, "well my son has autism and..." the mother then stopped me and very kindly said "I totally understand, he needs to keep his routines." and then she wished us a good ride!  This may sound small, but oh how I appreciate people who not only understand, but are kind in their understanding.

Some strangers can genuinely make you feel good about yourself as well.  I still remember years ago having to take my son for an assessment out of our city.  My husband drove us there, and my son was expecting him to drive us home afterward.  When he saw the taxi drive up to take us home - he had a meltdown and refused to get in!  It took well over 20 minutes for him to finally go inside and I honestly was surprised the driver even waited for us.  When I apologized for the wait, the driver was not even the slightest bit angry or frustrated, he said to me "you are so patient with your son, god bless you!".  Wow!!  There are times when we lose faith in people and think they are going to kick us when we're already down and make us feel worse, then the opposite happens!  I'll never forget that experience.

All too often we hear of only negative news stories.  Here is a good one that may melt your heart.  Recently a young boy with autism in the Chicago area had his therapy puppy stolen from his yard.  The boy was so distraught from losing his pet that he refused to eat.  A stranger, having heard about this on the news and knowing how supportive service dogs are (him being nearly blind), bought the boy a new dog.  This man was not wealthy, he held a garage sale to help pay for the new dog!!  United Airlines then paid to have the dog shipped to the boy, and then Petland gave the family $1,500 gift certificate including a year's supply of pet food, free shots for 5 years and a chip to help locate him in case the puppy ever went missing.  What a touching story!  Here is a link to the story if you'd like to read more:   http://www.autismkey.com/stranger-replaces-stolen-autism-therapy-dog/

I think we can say from this story that kindness is also contagious.

If we take the time to look, we'd notice that there are really nice people all around us.  If we are not finding that to be the case on a particular day - how about being the first one to start the chain?  One small act of kindness can lead to one more!

My video today is not exactly with today's theme, but the title of the show is "perfect strangers" - and having a laugh is always a good thing!

Cheers!
Linda