Day 110k: Another fine familial Feast … (August 17, 2019)
Onward I ambled along Highway 1’s still-rude shoulders, until I saw a Chili’s restaurant that beckoned for some water and a brief rest. I explained my Pilgrimage to the hostess on hand, who then explained the same to her manager, who then told me to sit in a booth for as long as I needed. I hadn’t been there long when the manager, Kat, came up to my table again and told me that the family in the booth next to mine had offered to pay for me to eat dinner there (and that she was going to offer me the same if they hadn’t done so). And not only kind in this manner were the O’Briens, but humble as well; gently refusing to have their picture taken for this tome and even offering me cash for my continued journey (which I politely declined, of course). They then left and Kat had the cooking staff prepare me an astounding vegan meal (outside the realm of the standard menu), which I ate slowly and in great gratitude before continuing on my Way …
“I was helpless in trying to return people’s kindness, but also helpless to resist it. Kindness is a scarier force than cruelty, that’s for sure. Cruelty isn’t that hard to understand – it’s mired in violence, which is nothing more than crystallized fear. And almost everyone is afraid of something all the time. So I have no trouble comprehending why the phone company wants to screw me over or why politicians are so wickedly corrupt; they just wanted to steal some money or hold fast to some power, it was nothing personal. That’s the way of the world. It makes me mad, but it doesn’t make me feel stupid. If anything, it flatters my intelligence. Accepting random &/or anonymous &/or pure acts of kindness, though, makes me feel stupid. Human benevolence is beyond my understanding – it’s completely irrational. After all, we quite obviously don’t live in a kind or generous world, and yet so many of us are kind and generous. We know the universe is out to burn us, and yet we so often refuse to burn each other, at least not always. Many of those around us are kind people in an unkind world. So how do we pretend we don’t know about it, after we see it? How do we go back to acting like we don’t want to be kind ourselves after witnessing any form of Goodness? We can’t – and we shouldn’t.” ~ inspired by Rob Sheffield
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