Black Sisterhood & Paying It Forward...

~this image may be copyrighted.

Oh, where do I begin...?

It's been a tough, but enlightening few months - working on completing my short film, Utopia, and dealing with life, family, those sorts of things...

I struggle with seeing the good in human beings, most times. You know how people sometimes say "oh, so and so would never do something like that..."? Well, I can't say that. I'm the one who says, "you know, he/she is human... We are capable of anything," literally. And, I'm basically referring to the terrible things humans are capable of doing to each other.

So, yesterday morning I began taking yoga again, it was a nice first class. There was an issue with the pass I purchased and the front desk lady was not in the mood to deal with me after the class (which she took with us, so I can understand her not wanting to ruin her bliss...) Hopefully, someone will help me figure it out next class.

I left the studio and found my way to the Trader's Joes next door. The fridge is empty, and if I don't stock up now, it'll be a few more days before I'm able to get to the supermarket, so, I go in.

A few long minutes later, I am at the register, standing in front of this pretty young lady in casual gear with a nice head of natural hair. I love, love, love a black woman's natural hair and the ways I see black women wear it. I get so jealous that my hair doesn't do that, but that aside, gush... I just love it! And, black women (but, really, women in general.)

Anyway, back to what I was really talking about: I didn't acknowledge this young lady, I just walked up, put my groceries on the counter, had a friendly chat with the cashier, bagged my groceries as he rang me up, cause why not? And then, he tallied up the cost ($130) and I inserted my credit card into the machine. My purchase was declined. We tried again and again, and yup, you guessed it, declined.

I tried my bank card, not knowing if the check I had deposited a few days ago had cleared, and guess what? Declined. I decided to call my bank to try to sort this out, but in the mean time, I asked the cashier to suspend my purchase while I tried to do this, and just then this young black woman with the hair turned to me and asked if I wanted her to get me now and I pay her back later? WHAT?

I refused her offer at first to see what's going on with my card, but she offered to wait, after she had made her purchase, just in case I couldn't sort things out with the bank. WHAT?

Well, I couldn't sort things out with them over the phone, I had to go into the bank, so I asked if I could take her up on her offer and Venmo her the funds. She was cool with that. WHAT?

Her words: "you gotta eat, right?"

She paid for my groceries without knowing if I would in fact pay her back, said good bye to me so casually, and was out the door and off to carry on with the rest of her day, like... I was lost for words.

I got home, told my man about what just happened. He wished he was there to help me out, but more importantly, he was in awe, just as I was. This is what he calls success. This is what he loves about humans.

I went to the bank, Venmo'd her her money back, and thought about what just happened. How inspiring this experience was to me. She literally picked me up, turned me around, and planted me back down facing a new direction. She shifted my perspective with one simple act of kindness. This sweet woman with the luscious hair looked at me, saw I needed help, and helped me. Period. No strings attached.

It feels good to know (and to remember!) that people like her exist in this world. It really does.

Cheers,

Aimi :D