aka Journeys Across America
This weekend we celebrated the birthday of this country. Amidst the sparklers and flags, I took a moment to reflect on this journey and the experiences we have had over four months and many states. We have met many people. They have had different accents and different zip codes but many, nay most, have been kind and helpful.
In central Texas, a man helped us pull forward a trailer that had rolled back two feet and trapped our water line. In Southwest Texas, another man taught us the proper order of unhooking the tongue jack so it wouldn’t bounce and possibly roll back as it did in central Texas. He also stopped us from driving off with our antenna in the up position.
In Mississippi, another man (a lovely man named Jack), actually backed our trailer into the spot when he saw Mr. Hero struggling. A lady in Louisiana offered us a military discount even when the company didn’t offer one to say thanks for hubby’s service.
We listened to B. B. King music alongside other mourners in Memphis and celebrated David Letterman’s final show in Indiana. A West Virginian told us all the great parks to visit. In Kentucky, a family-owned laundromat did three weeks of laundry and folded it for us with no judgment and a ridiculously low price. We got free wifi and lots of directions in Pennsylvania and were cheered on by a random driver in western New York.
What is the point of this meandering list of wandering kindnesses?
None of these people asked our religion or for whom we voted. Most didn’t know from where we came and more didn’t know our name. They were just kind. All across the country, all across the map, there was kindness.
So despite a lot of the news cycle telling us how different and divided we are, I have definitive proof otherwise. At the end of the day, we are Americans. More to the point, we are all people. And I still believe.
There are so many horrible, despicable human beings out there but there are certainly people out there that touch us and help us in more ways we could’ve hoped or imagined. All of humanity isn’t lost, thank god. It’s so nice to see wonderful and kind people still exist.
Go Western New York person! Rochester, NY was voted the “Friendliest City in America” two years in a row! (A bit of trivia for ya’.) 🙂
It is great to hear about the positive experiences and connections that can happen on travels like this across the U.S. Thank you for sharing them.
Thanks! We always hear when people aren’t kind so I thought I would share some of the good I’ve seen.
🙂
Traci
I love this so much. It hurts me to see people say there are no good people in the world because that is just not true!
I agree. I think we need to celebrate good people more.
🙂
Traci