Today has been gray and drippy with heavy clouds leveling the mountain tops and misting trees, sidewalks and laneways. Cold and hungry after completing my morning's errands, I nipped into De’lish, a tiny cafe on St. Patrick’s Street just off of Central Ave here in Victoria.
Inside this tiny restaurant, they creatively had seating for twelve patrons. Four tables for two, spaced neatly against a lovely padded bench, had chairs facing the bench. Two more tables were tucked on either side of the door. When I walked in I saw that warm seating space was very limited, but warm food was not. I’d had enough of the weather and wanted to be in a cozier spot than right by a drafty door.
I blithely ordered my cream of mushroom soup, a chicken panini and went to my chosen spot with a hot mug of dark coffee. One person at each table along the wall, none of us acknowledged the other. Not especially in a visiting mood, I kept to myself and checked my iPhone for messages.
Two more ladies came in, visiting intently and after looking around for a place to sit, they left, barely interrupting their conversation.
“Would you mind sharing a table?”
“Not at all.”
The owner of the question got up from her lunch, followed the ladies out the door, and called to them to let them know of the available space that had been made for them by the two patrons at separate tables next to me.
After three of the women had finished their meals and gone on their way, I asked to join Barbara, clearing more space for a group of five that came in out of the rain. We visited and I told Barbara that what she had done was a very nice thing. She just shrugged, smiled and said “It just seemed like the right thing to do.”
“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of
kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”
Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert
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