At a local coffee shop where I frequent most mornings, a group of men tending toward middle age seem to enjoy meeting together. Laughs, current event discussions, sweet rolls and plenty of java seem to rule. They sometimes get a little loud, yet not boisterous. Most of them smile easily. Their political views clearly lean quite heavily to the right, though one who is more leftward loves to throw what he terms “hand grenades” into the gab sessions for the sheer fun of it. Though I’m found most often away in a secluded corner, content to use the place and time as my “office” to plan my writing life days, I nevertheless have gotten to know most of the gentlemen and don’t mind their occasional good-natured kidding about what I do as an avocation and, yes, having political views not always agreeing with theirs. Now to the point. I’ve watched the men fairly carefully over the last few years and can report some acts of kindness worthy of genuine admiration. From my perch in the coffee shop, I observed them trying for many months to console and give hope to a middle-aged woman dealing with severe depression, only to see her die despite members’ best efforts. They actively engaged a cancer-fighting former college professor with cancer, visiting him in the hospital and being a good audience as he talked of his life and family. They did similarly for an aging, military veteran who recently died. Currently, they’ve got a mentoring relationship going with a formerly homeless man who is trying to make his own way doing handyman jobs in the community and keeping his own living place. I see enough and pick up enough snatches of information in my small cubicle to validate their uncommon “specialness” and hope others will be inspired by the men as I have. I don’t know why my java drinking buddies have such a heart for others. I know some have a religious bent, others not. Maybe it’s a positive peer pressure kind of thing, with the good actions of a few motivating the others. Regardless, I like what I’ve seen. Makes me want to join ‘em occasionally, even when our politics don’t always jive.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 11:15:15 +0000
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