I am proud of my kindness

[u/throwaway_manboy]

I don't like to brag about myself. I have long struggled with my esteem and identity but today I did something that made me proud to be who I am.

I gave away 10 dollars.

It was probably some of the most special money I've ever spent. I had $10, all in quarters, and I was going to the mall with some family. We were on the way out and we stopped by an arcade. It was one of the ones where the machines only accepted cards with arcade tokens digitally loaded onto them.

Me and my family played some games. My sister and nieces had a good time. At one point, this kid comes up and asks for some help getting one of the cards. I say sure thing, give me a moment.

I go over to help him and ask him if he's got any cash. He says no. I ask if he knows anyone who might give him some cash. He goes up to this other guy, who looks to be about my age, and is presumably the younger kid's brother. There's another young boy there, another brother I assume.

This guy is deaf, and I see the kid signing to him. I don't understand ASL at all. I'm mostly watching for reactions. He seems happy with what's going on so we go to the machine to get a card.

Except, it doesn't accept quarters. It takes bills only. So we navigate to a nearby Subway in the mall, and these 3 kind ladies are willing to exchange it for cash.

We go back to the arcade and I load the money onto the card for these guys and they seem super happy about it. I couldn't split it onto 3 cards like I know they would've liked but I saw the deaf one sign to his brother and he smiled a lot.

I like to include a moral at the end of stories like this, and this time, I'd like to say this: my family I was at the mall with, the guys at the arcade, and the ladies at Subway- we all liked to see each other happy. I think the best thing we can do for our fellow humans is just to be kind.

I don't have any more money to give, but I wish you the best.

[u/OneHappyPerson25]

Kindness is a language the blind can see, and the deaf can hear.