Special Kindnesses, Santa Cruz Style

"I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts."

--John Locke

It is a wonderful thing to experience "the kindness of strangers" when one most feels vulnerable. In a world of increasing bureaucracy and indifference, encountering people who relate sympathetically is almost a mystical experience. In Santa Cruz, California, we've recently encountered especially spontaneous people, and I want to take a moment to spotlight their kindnesses...

The first week after we arrived, needing to attend to a change of shipping addresses for the small marine supplies business we have in the Philippines, YACHTS IN TRANSIT, we phoned the accounting office at our wholesaler. A woman named Cathy answered but, in reviewing the file, discovered that our account predated their more current forms. She said it was necessary to fill out new forms to maintain our account.

Indeed our forms were old! Thirty years ago, before there were any forms, Bill had been buying rope out of the founder's Mountain View garage! With the establishment of our own boat maintainence business, we'd naturally progressed to wholesale customer status and had watched, amazed, how rapidly West Marine exploded into an international success story. (Our own success, needless to say, was more modest.) In 1991 we left California to sail across the Pacific, but continued to work on boats as we cruised. Our partner in Santa Cruz maintained the business of restoring old boats.

Cathy was only doing her job when she asked us to bring our application up to current standards, a safeguard against individuals without a valid business, but because our activity had become so reduced over the years, we worried we'd become too marginal for a big company to bother with.

Losing our account was a chilling thought, because through YACHTS IN TRANSIT, cruisers in the Philippines have helped support the school. Donating a percentage of the orders we place for them, the income provides for special needs, like repair of our computers, or stimulating materials (colored gel pens, thick papers, or matte boards) for artwork.

Cathy, bless her soul, understood the significance of this information. Though initially feeling the need to consult with others, she recognized that while we were no longer high-end customers, we'd been loyal customers, annually meeting our financial commitment--so she said, "Lets' just keep it as it is."

There isn't a photograph of Cathy because we met only over the telephone, but the picture above, captured through the windshield of my car while stopped at an intersection, portrays something of our encounter. Maybe the two cyclists even knew each other (though it felt differently) or, perhaps, it was only a moment's meeting, but there was something so human about the two helmeted people (the older woman with her basket of flowers and the sleek man in his special clothing), that I felt enhanced, uplifted, just watching their brief exchange.

Anais Nin said, "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage" and Cathy's action not only inspired gratitude and respect in me, more importantly it has contributed to the betterment of One Candle Schoolhouse's students.

The next lovely encounter was Crystal. I'd previously been told I'd need to buy a new cell phone because my Philippine phone wouldn't take a Verizon sim card. No other options offered. Three weeks later and very frustrated with public pay phones, I asked again, in another Verizon store. This time, though still not possible to use their sim cards, I was directed to the AT&T store (Thank you, thank you!). It was there I met Crystal.

Immediately understanding it didn't make sense to buy a new cell phone for a remaining two weeks, Crystal whispered sympathetically, "We'll give you a loaner," adding, "sometimes some people get funny about doing this but, after all, it's our JOB to make the customer happy!"

And happier, she couldn't have made me! With a quick flip here, and a tap-tap there, Crystal effortlessly presented me with a sheaf of instructions and a used-but-working cell phone! The word grateful didn't begin to convey the feelings I had, floating out the door with my new/old cell phone.


Those two examples were major kindnesses given in response to problems I needed help with. The next two (though I hesitate to set a number as yet!) fall under "Random Acts of Kindness."


While searching for items in a thrift store (wonderful adventures, Thrift Stores; how we miss them in the Philippines!) I watched a dark-haired young man sorting through a box of cameras.

Filipinos love photographs, and I encourage our students to learn photography with what we have. Unfortunately, our cameras haven't much life left in them by the time they reach us, but nonetheless, the kids have gained valuable experience anyway, so I was wondering if I should take a chance and explore the box, myself. Last year, Bill found a point-and-shoot in a thrift bin which proved to be a good buy. Could I also be so lucky?

Suddenly the man looked up and smiled, telling me, "Feel free to dive in!" Pawing through the box together, he enthusiastically related all the wonderful things that could be done with these old cameras! My head was spinning and my heart pounding with trying to remember everything he said. I LONGED to have him come to Tambobo and show us how to do all these things--and told him so!

But, of course, we both knew that was more a wish upon the wind as he finished his perusal through the box and began to leave. He mentioned he was a photographer himself; he also taught photography, sometimes for children at summer camps.

He'd filled my cup to overflowing with his enthusiastic information. "What a gift that was!" I was thinking when he startled me by returning.

Almost embarrassed, he held out a folded 5"x7" index card, with a drawing on the back side. "Sorry, that's all I had to write on...if your students ever have any questions I can help with, here's my email address." And then he was gone before I could think to reciprocate.

But I have his email address, and I will write to Phillip, photography student at University of California, Santa Cruz, that a Thank You note has been added here just for him--one of the special flowers in my Santa Cruz bouquet of memories.


I use that metaphor deliberately, because this morning--summoned to Enterprise Car Rental to have new license tags affixed--I entered the office in time to see a bouquet of autumn flowers, wrapped in pumpkin colored paper, passed over the counter. 'Erin' had brought them for Enterprise employee, Katelin, in response to great kindness during a difficult 'moving day', when Erin had rented a vehicle.




Tom, unfailingly charming during the numerous times I've returned to dither about some needed information (not to mention his inserting my car to the head of the lot's line today, when I asked where to find a car wash), deadpanned, "No one has EVER brought ME flowers."

(Not yet they haven't, Tom; not yet...)

I hope these vignettes of kindness will bring pleasure to those who gave them in the first place, as well as continue to radiate outward, in the lives of those who read of them.