…and now the rest of the story. This is the unexpected follow up to last week’s post that centered around a shooting at the Valley Fair Mall in San Jose California and questioned kindness. It turns out a friend was there. There, as in 100 feet away.1
Part One: The event witness upon hearing the shots thought there was some kind of performance and headed towards the front of the store while others recognized the sound. The store employees opened up the storage room everyone ran, squeezing through the door as fast as possible. In the back of the storage room was another door; an exit leading outside the building. People just continued to run; once they were outside the building, they kept running.
Part Two: Door Cam Video2 shows several teens fleeing the scene and ringing a random doorbell and speaking to the homeowner. The teens beg to come inside and he proceeds to offer shelter to all those running by.
In a split second, you have to differentiate between the everyday and the rare and unusual. This week consider, is how you respond to one thing is probably an indication of how you respond to everything? Observe instances of kindness, it is all around in in small everyday gestures. Are these the small acts that contribute to the ability to respond with greater acts of kindness.
1The typical storefront in a mall is 20 to 30 feet. My friend was 3 stores down, hence about a 100 feet.
2 https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRyWo-vEcDZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Balancing on Unstable Surfaces 